


Shades Of Gray

by ginnekomiko



Category: Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-15
Updated: 2014-11-15
Packaged: 2018-02-25 10:24:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 25,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2618402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginnekomiko/pseuds/ginnekomiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of a girl, a boy, and a curse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Step

The automatic door of the hospital opened to the same rhythm it always did. Delicately, the girl put her foot forward and then pulled it back again. It opened and closed. Opened and closed. She smiled to herself. Soon she would be…

“Miss Shion?” a kind voice asked.

“Ah, yes, nurse?” the girl answered as she turned around.

“You cannot start a journey like this in your nightgown,” the nurse continued. “Here, changes into these clothes before you go to see the professor.”

The white dress she was given was simple and modest. It reached below her knees. The shoes were light on her feet. After she was dressed, the nurse sat the small, skinny girl down on a stool and ran a brush through her long, wavy brown hair. “Are you excited to go, Shion?”

The girl nodded eagerly. “Yes! I’ll finally get to see the world like I’ve always wanted to!”

“Shion, Audino will be keeping you company on your journey. She will act as your full-time nurse. Make sure you do not push yourself too hard, okay?”

Shion tied her hair back with a hair tie designed to hold two shrunken pokeballs. So far, she only had Audino. Technically, Audino wasn’t even hers, she belonged to the hospital. “I promise.”

“You look lovely, Shion,” the nurse remarked. “Please be safe on your journey.”

Shion bowed. “Thank you all for looking after me all this time.” She took Audino’s paw. “Come on, Audino!”

This was her first step into the wide world. Something about it didn’t feel right. Once she was a safe distance away from the hospital, she took off her shoes and put them in her bag.

She ran for the first time in a long time. Her arms spread out like wings as she raced down the hill.

Free. She was finally free.

Running through the grass like this, she felt like she was flying.


	2. Who Are You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion meets a mysterious hot guy and... has her first pokemon battle(?)

Nimbasa City was a ways away from Castelia City, but Shion wanted to go there first after she met with Professor Juniper in Castelia pokemon center. It always seemed like a fun town from what she read in the pamphlets. There was a gym and the stadium, the battle subway, but she really wanted to see the musical hall. When she finally got there, it was closed for the day.  
  
“Oh, I guess I can go tomorrow,” she said. “I’m not sleepy yet. Oh wow! Look Audino! A Ferris Wheel! I’ve always wanted to ride on one of these! I can, can’t I? It says it’s still open!”  
  
Audino nodded.  
  
“Yay!” Shion said. She approached the ride. “I wonder how it works?”  
  
“Is it your first time on a Ferris Wheel, miss?” a voice asked. Shion turned. The source of the voice was a young man with long green hair. “If you’d like, I could accompany you.”  
  
Audino gave a disapproving glance.  
  
“Aw, pretty please, Audino?” Shion whispered. “If he tries anything funny, you’ll use echoed voice, right?” The pokemon nodded. She smiled at the boy and they bordered together. As the Ferris Wheel went around, she couldn’t take her eyes off the window. “Oh wow~! This view is amazing!” she said.  
  
“Tell me, how do you feel about the relationship between people and pokemon?” the young man asked.  
  
Shion thought for a moment. “The relationship between them? I don’t know… I haven’t seen very many examples. I know that doctors and nurses use pokemon a lot.”  
  
“I want to set all the pokemon in the world free from the cruel rule of humans,” he said. “That Audino, is she yours?”  
  
“Well, she’s not mine exactly; she belonged to the hospital I stayed at. I guess she is now, though. She’s my nurse!”  
  
 “Why do you need a pokemon for a nurse?” he asked.  
  
“Because Audino’s not scary like some of the human doctors are. I trust her,” she said softly. The Ferris Wheel came to a slow stop. “Aww! The ride is over already? I don’t want to go to bed yet!” She carefully stepped out onto the grass.  
  
“I see. So you’re no different than the rest of the people who used pokemon as tools,” the boy said.  
  
“Huh?” Shion asked as she cocked her head.  
  
The boy smirked. “I guess I’ll have to teach you the hard way. Go, Purrloin!”  
  
The purple cat landed on the grass with the utmost grace.  
  
“Huh? Kitty!” she exclaimed. Instead of calling out her pokemon to battle with him, this girl simply lay on the grass next to his Purrloin and smiled. “Hello, Mr. Kitty.”  
  
He’d never seen anything like this before. His Purrloin, while loyal to him, did not take to strangers. Yet, the cat had settled in her lap, content to get his ears scratched and fur stroked. The Audino he assumed was supposed to be his opponent in battle, was hitting her head with her paw in reaction to the girl’s behavior.  
  
“You’re such a sweet kitty!”She said as she hugged his Purrloin.”And you’re so soft! I could cuddle you forever!” She looked up at him. “You’ve taken really good care of him!”  
  
“Um, thanks,” he murmured.  What _was_ this? Why was he letting her play with his pokemon? He regained himself. “Just who are you?”  
  
“Me? I’m Shion! Do you want to be friends with me?” she asked.  
  
“Friends?” he asked.  
  
“Yeah! I want to make lots of friends while I’m on this journey. So, what’s your name?”  
  
“N,” he said.  
  
“Just N?” she asked.  
  
“Yes; just N.”  
  
She grinned. “Okay! Hi, N!”  
  
N watched the Audino flutter around the girl with a concerned look on her face. She put her paw to the girl’s forehead and give an authoritative bark. “Oh. Alright, Audino,” Shion said. “I do feel a little dizzy. Sorry Mr. Kitty. My nurse says I have to go to bed now.”  
  
N saw her struggle to get up. Still, she waved at him. “Bye-bye, N! Goodnight! I hope we’re able to meet again soon!”  
  
“Ah, goodnight…. Shion,” he said. He watched her take Audino’s paw. So that Audino really _was_ her nurse? He’d keep an eye on this strange girl.


	3. Stolen by a Fuzzy Bat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion is completely oblivious to the fact that N is stalking her. Our heroine, everyone.

N watched Shion from the shadows as she explored around Nimbasa . She was a strange human. Yet, pokemon seemed to like her. First, there was the Audino, who stayed by her side no matter what.  Now, he saw a Tepig was following beside her as well. Why did the little pig seem so happy?  It didn’t make any sense. Why would it willingly follow her? Maybe because their personalities were so alike?  
  
Both the pig and the girl had a tendency to get easily distracted and run after whatever caught their eye. When that happened, Audino would run over, retrieve them by the ear, and then scold them. When that happened, they both would hang their heads and apologize.  
  
He swore he only turned his back on them for a second, but all three of them were gone when he looked for them again.  
  
It’s not like he cared.  
  
Okay, maybe he was worried about the pokemon under the command of a girl who chased after passing things in the wind. She probably fell into the nearby chasm, or something. That wouldn’t surprise him one bit. It would make taking her pokemon from her easy. He’d set them free after he retrieved them.  
  
It was surprisingly dark in that cave. He groped around the rocks to try to find his way. He felt something press softly against his mouth.  
  
*Chu! <3!*  
  
N drew back. A Woobat had just kissed him using Heart Stamp!  
  
“There you are, Woobat! Silly boy! We’re supposed to go _this way_ to get to the next town!” Shion’s voice said.  
  
N paused. That Woobat was _hers_ and it was _male_?


	4. Bianca and Cheren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion is STILL completely oblivious to the fact that N is stalking her.

N kept his distance from Shion after getting his first kiss stolen by her extremely affectionate male Woobat. When she agreed to have lunch with a few friends, he observed them from the safety of a tree.

The first to arrive was a boy with glasses. He challenged her to a battle right away. Huh? He’d never seen the little zebra before. She must have picked it up along the way. Shion was able to take out his Dewott with ease thanks to a type advantage. Poor water otter.

  
Scratch that, the little zebra was now a big zebra and it looked like it was angry at the whole world. …Except for when she hugged it around its neck. Strange.  
  
Finally, the other friend arrived. This one was a girl. Once again, this girl promptly challenged Shion to a battle. Okay, Shion had a little Sandile with her, too. This one… apparently liked to jump out and scare the crap out of people. Why didn’t this surprise him?  
  
The easily distracted pig, the worrywart Audino, the kiss stealing Woobat, the angry zebra, the prank-happy Sandile...  
  
“Quack!”  
  
And a duck.

  
That made six pokemon in total.  
  
“Oh! Woobat, come back!” Shion called.  
  
Oh no, not again! It was heading straight for him! While trying to dodge her Woobat, N fell out of the tree.  
  
“Who is this guy?” the boy with glasses asked.  
  
“Oh, hi N!” Shion said with a smile.  
  
“Shi, you know this guy?” the other girl said.  
  
“She must, if her Woobat decided to kiss him with heart stamp,” the boy said.  
  
“I think my Woobat just really likes to use that attack!” Shion said, still grinning. “He did it to Bi as soon as I sent him out to battle her.”  
  
“Maybe he just likes to kiss the people you’re close to?” the boy said. “Bianca and I have been your friends for a long time. ”  
  
“So this guy is a friend of yours?” Bianca said.  
  
What were they talking about? He wasn’t anyone’s friend. Never mind that! That was the second time the stupid bat had kissed him.  
  
“N, do you want to have lunch with us?” Shion asked. “Bi and I made plenty! It’s my first time cooking, so please try some!”  
Aside from the distrusting glance of Cheren, nobody protested the idea.  
  
N groaned. If he wanted to die in the near future, he knew who to call. Her cooking was awful. What was he doing? People were evil. Why was he eating with these three? Why were they eating with their pokemon like it was no big deal?  
  
“So, Shi, how does it feel to be free of that little white room?” Bianca asked.  
  
Little white room?  
  
Shion stretched her arms high. “It feels great! The warm sun on my face, the sweet smell of grass on my clothes, it’s so amazing! I love feeling the earth under my feet.”  
  
“That would explain why your feet are so filthy. Don’t you ever wear shoes?” Cheren asked.  
  
“Only in towns and man-made roads,” she remarked.

“Shion…” Cheren began.  
  
N got up.  
  
“Oh, are you going, N?” Shion asked.  
  
“Yes. Thank you for the meal. It was… a pleasure.”  
  
No it wasn’t.  
  
“N, wait up a sec!” Bianca said. She grabbed his arm, which made him extremely uncomfortable. “Shi is my very best friend. Please watch out for her if you can.”  
  
“What if I’m not as nice as I appear to be?” he asked.  
  
Bianca gripped his arm tightly. “Then you better be prepared. If you hurt her, you’ll pay for it. I promise.” With that, Bianca turned and rejoined her friends.  
  
_Scary._


	5. The Incident in Chargestone Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N decides to stop stalking Shion. Of course, once the Ninjas say they found her unconscious, he changes his mind.

N decided it would be best to leave Shion to her own business. He was the leader of Team Plasma, after all. He had other things he needed to think about. Still, he found it odd that not even the Shadow Triad had been able to report to him about her whereabouts. She was somewhere in this cave, wasn’t she?  
  
“Lord N, we located the girl,” one of the ninjas said.  
  
“Bring her to me, please,” N ordered.  
  
“We can’t do that, sir,” said the second.  
  
“Why not?” he asked.  
  
“She’s unconscious,” said the third. “That Audino of hers won’t let anything come near her. Do you hear that sound? It’s using Echoed Voice.”  
  
N paused. Yes, Audino was crying. “Please take me to that pokemon.”  
  
“Very well,” they said.  
  
He could feel it as they approached Shion’s body. He could feel Audino’s pain; it was such a crushing sadness. Yet, Shion looked like she was only sleeping.  “It’s alright, Audino,” he said gently. “Please relax.” The pokemon turned around and saw him. When she did, she stopped the attack. Good, she trusted him. “What happened here, Audino?”  
  
The pink pokemon glared at him and puffed out her cheeks. Okay, she _sort of_ trusted him.  
  
“Well, I can’t just leave her.” N took a deep breath. “This is no big deal; I’ll just treat her like a pokemon who needs help. I’ll just put her on my back and…”  
  
“My Lord N! Do not touch the lady carelessly!”  
  
“Huh? Touch?” he asked.  
  
“She keeps pokeballs in her br-” one began.  
  
“Idiot! Don’t tell him that!” said the second. “Lord N is taking a very big step in trying to help a human girl. Lord N, please let us know if you want us to carry her instead.”  
  
“No, I can do this,” N said. He picked her up. “She’s… really light. I’ll be able to carry her easily.”  
  
“Watch out for the…” said the third.  
  
“Shh!” said the second.  
  
What were those three going on about?  
  
Audino walked beside him. She kept her eyes on Shion the whole time.  
  
What had happened here?


	6. For Her Sake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N is understanding less and less.

When N reached the outside of the cave a voice called out to him.  That face, those glasses…“Cheren?” N asked.  
  
“What are you doing with Shion?” Cheren demanded. “What happened?”  
  
“Carrying her,” N said. “She fell down in the cave. Audino was worried so I agreed to help.”  
  
Cheren looked visibly panicked. “We need to get her to a Pokemon Center, now!”  
  
A Pokemon Center? Did they treat people injuries there, too? When they arrived, an equally worried nurse rushed Shion into an open room.  
  
“You stay out! This doesn’t concern you!” Cheren exclaimed. He then slammed the door in N’s face.  
  
N pouted. Fine, he’d stay out, but he wasn’t going to leave, not until he was sure she was okay. He waited in one of the chairs outside until Audino came to get him.  
  
“Guys? How’d I get here?” Shion asked weakly. “I don’t remember…”  
  
“We found you and carried you here,” Bianca said with a smile.  
  
 _Liars._ N thought.  
  
“Bi, have you heard from Kohaku recently?” Shion asked.  
  
N paused. Kohaku? Who was Kohaku? Was he someone important?  
  
“No,” Bianca said.  
  
She was lying again.  
  
Shion sighed. “That’s too bad. I haven’t heard from him in so long. Is he… ignoring me?”  
  
“Kohaku is busy,” Cheren said.  
  
Now Cheren was lying, too.  
  
“But he always used to visit me before…” she said.  
  
“What happened, Shion?” Cheren asked.  
  
“I fell off the bridge in the cave, but these black shadows cushioned my fall,” Shion said.  
  
N thought for a moment. Black shadows? Oh, those three must have been watching her. He’d have to remember to thank them later.  
  
“Cheren, Bi, I want to rest now, okay?” Shion said.  
  
“Of course,” Cheren said. “Come on, Bianca.”  
  
“Get well soon, Shi,” Bianca said.  
  
“N, are you outside?” Shion asked.  
  
N froze. He stood in the doorway and peeked into her room. She smiled and waved at him. “I found you! You can come in if you want.”  
  
He sat down on the chair beside her bed. “Are you really alright?” he asked.  
  
“Yeah. Those two they act like every time I fall, I’ll break something. It’s kind of embarrassing. Hey, N, did you carry me out?”  
  
“Well, my friends found you unconscious and I didn’t want to leave you alone. You were upsetting Audino.”  
  
 She looked down. “I see. Thank you.”  
  
“If you don’t mind me asking, who is Kohaku?”  
  
“My younger twin brother,” she said with a smile. “Up until recently, he’s always kept in touch with me, but now he…”  
  
She couldn’t finish. Was she crying? She had that same broken look as all the pokemon he’d grown up with. But this was different; she was a human. Could humans be betrayed by other humans?  
  
“What’s going on with me?” she asked. “Why won’t he talk to me anymore?”  
  
 “Do you want me to leave?” he asked.  
  
She grabbed his wrist. Her hand felt like ice on his skin. “Please don’t. Not yet. I won’t cry anymore. Just don’t…”  
  
He sighed. Right now, she wasn’t a cruel, selfish human. She couldn’t be. She was just like that Minccino, the one back home with the tattered ears and broken tail, the one who kept all of her pain inside. How had he helped that one to calm down? Oh right, by rubbing her head. Minccinos loved to have their heads rubbed.Poor little Minccino. Those mean people lied to you, didn’t they? There, there. It’s okay to cry. This one had an extremely hot forehead.  
  
It wasn’t until Audino nudged him that he remembered that this was Shion; she was not a Minccino, but a human. How was that possible?  How could that sleeping thing be a selfish human?  
  
Well, she was clutching her Woobat like a toy while she slept, but that hardly seemed cruel. Woobat saw him open the door. As he was leaving, the bat flew up and lightly kissed him on the nose.  
  
It was saying, “thank you for saving her.”  
  
He shut the door. Everything he thought he understood about the world was making less and less sense.


	7. Watching from the Window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N is not Shion's only stalker (for once.)

While he was walking around the city, N came across a peculiar sight.

Cheren had his face pressed up against the window of the gym.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Watch.”

He did.

BOOM!

“Why is Shion flying out of that cannon?” he asked.

“Because for some bizarre reason, you have to navigate that gym using cannons,” Cheren  
muttered.

“And you’re watching her because?” he continued.

“I’m watching to make sure she doesn’t hit the wall and kill herself!”

“Maybe she’s enjoying herself?” he said.

“What do you know, N?”

“She has her arms spread out like wings and she’s got this big grin on her face,” he remarked.

Cheren sighed. “Shion’s always had a love for things with wings. She used to run after birds as they began to take off. Poor Kohaku would chase after her. It was rather comical, really; she was always so cheery and he was always so panicked.”

Kohaku; Shion’s younger twin brother; where was he now?

“I remember one time, her Swanna came up behind her and it looked like she had these lovely white wings.”

A human woman with the wings of a bird… wasn’t there a painting like that in his room somewhere?

Yes, the painting of the girl with one of the legendary dragons of the region.

“She’s battling the leader,” he remarked.

She was always very graceful when she battled. There was a kind of fluidness to how she did things.

With just a move of her hand and a single word of command, her Swanna took flight and summoned a massive wave of water.

Perhaps, even something as brutal as a battle could be beautiful in its own way.

“This is over,” Cheren remarked.

“How do you know?” he asked.

“She doesn’t look like much, but Shion is a very strong trainer. She always does things to her fullest. She beats me every time I challenge her.”

“You sure you’re not just weak?” he asked.

Cheren glared at him. “I’m trying to be the strongest trainer in all of Unova!”

“Why?”

“Being strong helps me remember I’m alive,” Cheren said softly.

“You really are weak,” he said. “You depend on your pokemon for your own self worth. You are the kind of person I want to save the pokemon of the world from.”

“What about someone like Shion?” Cheren asked.

“I suppose I’ll just have to ask her myself, won’t I?”

“I won’t let you poison her mind with your crazy ideals!” Cheren sanpped.

“It’s not poison. It’s enlightenment. She understands that. You are the one whose mind is corrupted.” He smiled. “Cheren, shall we see whose belief is stronger?”

“You’re weird, you know that, N?” Cheren said. “I have no idea why she puts up with you.”

He was going to make him regret saying those words.


	8. Tea and Cookies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N invites everyone to tea and Shion loves cookies.

“What are you guys doing?” a voice asked.  
  
“Shion! We were just! Um,” Cheren began.  
  
“I was inviting you two to tea,” N cut in. “I was waiting for you to finish your battle.”  
  
“You two were watching me? Did you see how amazing Swanna and Swoobat were? They were so graceful when they took to the air!”  
  
“I remember seeing you fly out of cannons,” Cheren said.  “That was really dangerous, Shion.”  
  
“But it was so much fun! I loved flying through the air like that! Hey, N, will there be cookies with the tea?”  
  
“Of course! How uncultured do you think I am?” N asked.  
  
“I am not having tea with you, N, and neither are you, Shion,” Cheren said as he grabbed her wrist. “Come on, you need your rest after all that excitement.”  
  
“But Cheren, he has cookies!” Shion cried. “Audino! I deserve a cookie, right? I won!” She was flailing about like a small child.  
  
“I said no,” Cheren said.  
  
“But I don’t want to rest!” Shion cried. “I’ve been resting for three days! No more! I’ve wasted enough time resting!”  
  
Audino slapped Cheren’s hand, causing him to let go of Shion. It didn’t look like it hurt, but it was surprising to see the normally gentle Audino with such a stern look on her face.  
  
N drew back a little as Shion came very close to him. She smiled. “Hey N, before we have our tea, can I make a request?”  
  
“What’s that?” he asked.  
  
“Can we go somewhere where I can see the airplanes take off? Please, please?”  
  
“You like… airplanes?” he asked.  
  
“Yeah! I used to love watching them from my window!”  
  
They had something in common?  
  
“Sure, we can have tea and watch the airplanes. There was something I wanted to discuss with you anyway, Shion.”  
  
“Really?” she asked.  
  
“Yes. Here, have a cookie. You too, Audino.”  
  
“Darn it, Shion! Don’t go wandering off with that guy!” Cheren called.  
  
“Sir, we would appreciate it if you did not interfere with Lord N’s tea time with his lady friend,” said one of the Shadow Triad.  
  
“Where did you Ninjas even come from?” Cheren demanded. “And since when was she his ‘lady friend?’”


	9. Philosophy of N, Philosophy of Shion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N and Shion chat.

They chose a small café close to the Mistralton airport. “Before we begin, do you mind if I allow my friends a moment to stretch their legs?” N asked.  
  
“Sure,” Shion said with a smile. “Oh! Hello, Mr. Kitty! Wow, you’ve grown so much since I last saw you!” His Purrloin had evolved since the last time she had seen it. It was a Liepard now. She looked happy to see that pokemon again. She kept scratching his ears.“So what did you want to discuss with me, N?”  
  
“First, I suppose an introduction is in order. Shion, I am to be King of Team Plasma.”  
  
“Does that mean you’re a prince?” she asked excitedly.  
  
“I suppose it does. Why?”  
  
“So princes still do exist in this world… yay!”  
  
He wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but the three waiters came by with their tea and sweets.  She became immediately distracted by the food.  
  
“Wow, this cake looks amazing! I never got more than a slice of something like this, and that was on my birthday!”  
  
“How old are you, Shion?” he asked.  
  
“I’m fourteen.”  
  
He would have pegged her as a little younger, given her attitude, but it wasn’t as if he was very good at that kind of game.  
  
“So N, do you really want to liberate all the pokemon in the world?”  
  
“Yes. That is my dream. “  
  
“So would that mean that I’d have to give my pokemon up for your dream to come true?”  
  
“Yes. Even if they are kind like you, pokemon trainers still do pokemon a great disservice by confining them and sealing off their full potential to become perfect beings.”  
  
“I guess traveling around after that would be a lot harder. I’ve been riding on Zebstrika more and more these days,” Shion said.  
  
 N nearly spit out his tea. “You _ride_ that possessed-looking beast?”  
  
“Only when I need to! Promise! He’s really nice about it, too! He’s such a good boy!  Having him run at full speed is a blast! Though, I guess I could make do without riding him, but that would slow me down. Audino, if I were to set you free, what would you do?”  
  
Audino stroked Shion’s hand.  
  
“Stay.” That’s what she was saying. Well, she was her nurse.  
  
“I’m sorry N, even if you are a prince, I can’t help you achieve your dream, not like that. I love my pokemon too much to just let them go. You can call me cruel to say so, but right now, they are my life.”  
  
“You wish to stop my plan then?” N asked.  
  
 She shook her head. “No. In some ways, I don’t think you’re wrong. Some people can be really cruel to their pokemon, but some pokemon can be cruel as well.”  
  
 N paused.“What do you mean, Shion?”  
  
“Ghost pokemon for example, they love to play tricks on people.”  
  
 N nodded. “Serves those people right. Ghosts are some of the saddest examples of pokemon.”  
  
She smiled at him. “You really are a kind person. Tell me, if I was to tell you a sad story, who would win your sympathy?”  
  
“Tell me the story first.”  
  
“Okay, once upon a time, there was a brother and sister. They lived on the edge of the woods. They would play there all the time when they were little. One day, when they were exploring the woods, the brother found something when he tripped. It was a golden casket.”  
  
“It wasn’t filled with gold, was it?” N asked.  
  
“Nope! It was a pokemon. Its red eyes opened and it grabbed the little boy with its many hands. It was choking him with them. Not knowing what else to do, the little girl threw a rock at the pokemon. In response, the pokemon used Curse on the little girl. Ten years, that’s how long the doctors gave her to live, if she was a lucky girl, that is.”  
  
He was silent.  “Was there really… a case like that?”  
  
“I’m sorry, N. I suppose it was mean of me to tell you that story, but do you understand now? While they are mostly good, some pokemon are like some people; neither group is made of completely pure individuals.”  
  
“So it seems you and I are destined to be on opposite sides of my dream. Hmm, perhaps there is a way to rectify this unfortunate outcome if I simply change the equation.”  
  
“When did we move onto math?” Shion asked. “I was never very good a math.”  
  
“Shion, do you know the legend of how Unova was created?”  
  
“By using the dragons and the two heroes, right? One of the human nurses used to tell me that story. It was my favorite!”

“I see. It is my goal to befriend Reshiram,” he said.  
  
“Oh! The pretty one with the blue eyes and white wings?” she asked as she flapped her arms.  
  
N nodded. “If people can see me as a hero, they will follow my train of thought without worry, because heroes are always good people. If I say so, they’ll set their pokemon free.”  
  
“But what about the other dragon?” she asked.  
  
“That is my challenge to you. I’d like to see if you could befriend Zekrom. If you can, I’ll consider your way of thinking as equal to my own. You could be a princess in your own right, as the hero who pursues truth.”  
  
“Lord N, I hate to interrupt, but Master Ghetsis is looking for you,” said one of the Shadow Triad. “Hello, Miss Shion.”

“Hi, Mr. Ninja!”  
  
“Oh.” N got up. “Don’t worry about the bill okay? It’s my treat. Please think about my challenge, okay?”  
  
 Shion watched him leave. “Hey, Audino, do you think I could really be a princess like N said?”  
  
Audino nodded and smiled.  
  
“Wow, I could be a really be a princess! And I just had cake with a real prince! I must be the luckiest girl in the world!”


	10. The Wish of N and the Truth of Ghetsis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N's becoming more distracted. Ghetsis is not amused by this development.

N sat across from the man who raised him. He did not seem pleased, but then again, his face never seemed be anything other than frowning.  
  
“N,” the man said calmly.  
  
“Yes, Ghetsis?”  
  
“What were you doing in that café?”  
  
“Watching the airplanes,” N said.  
  
“With a woman?”  
  
“Woman? Oh, you mean Shion? She’s not really a woman.”  
  
“Why is that?”  
  
“You said that all women lie. Shion’s never lied. So she can’t be the same as what you’ve described. It’s like a pokemon’s pure soul got reborn into the flesh of a girl. She must have been something warm and fluffy in her pervious life, like a Minccino. Or maybe she was a bird pokemon before, since she likes things that fly.”  
  
“Focus!” Ghetsis snapped.  
  
N startled into attention.  
  
“Perhaps I was too quick to send you out into a real world. I thought that since you finally reached adulthood, you would be ready for the task I raised you for.”  
  
 N smiled. “Don’t worry! I’ll become the hero and change this world for the betterment of all pokemon. I know it’s within my grasp!”

  
“Will you? You’ve become distracted as of late. N, whatever you may think about this girl, it’s useless.  You are destined for greater things; do not fall for the trappings of selfish humans, even if some of them do remind you of cute, fluffy things. All humans are tainted being. That girl is no different.”  
  
“I believe she is different. That’s why I issued a challenge to her to befriend the other dragon. If she can, then…”  
  
“You WHAT?” Ghetsis snapped.  
  
“Ghetsis, she has this way with pokemon. She’s so nice to them and…”  
  
“I don’t believe this! You talk as if you’d throw our entire plan out the window for a woman!”  
  
“She’s not a woman! Shion is Shion! And I’m not throwing everything away. If this ugly world is to be reborn, I want to at least give her a chance to see the new one I create. Besides, a King needs a Queen, right?”  
  
Ghetsis paused. “I see. I suppose I understand your reasoning.  Very well, I will let you play your little game of pretend. Actually, I’m curious to how this little venture of yours will turn out. Can you, someone who has never had this kind of human contact, still experience heartbreak? I wonder…. Actually, I’d like to meet this Shion of yours. Shall I use the Shadow Triad, N?”  
  
“No. I’ll bring her. She’ll come if I ask nicely. Where should we meet?”  
  
Ghetsis smiled. “Bring her to Dragonspiral Tower. I shall test her myself.”


	11. Winter Clothes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter is about to set in.

Winter was beginning to set in. N could feel the change in the air. He’d have to dress a little bit warmer from now on. Would it snow soon?  
  
A soft weight pressed against him for a moment.

“Ack!” he exclaimed.  
  
He paused. Beyond a mass of winter clothing was a very familiar pair of eyes.  
  
“Shion, is that you?” he asked  
  
“Hehehe, I was trying to be a ninja and sneak up on you, but I guess I failed.”  
  
“What are you wearing?  You look like a puffy multi-colored marshmallow.”  
  
“A hat, three sweaters, long pants, mittens, and scarf! I hate these boots, though. If it wasn’t for the fact I’d get frostbite, I’d be barefoot.  N, aren’t you cold?”  
  
“Not really. Aren’t you roasting in all those layers?”  
  
“I’d rather be too warm than too cold. I can’t seem to keep heat anymore.”  
  
Even Audino was wearing a pair of earmuffs and a scarf around her neck. The earmuffs were to protect her delicate ears; the scarf was Shion’s idea.  
  
“She’s super-cute, isn’t she? Now we can keep traveling even when it gets colder,” Shion said.  
  
“Don’t most trainers take their journey much slower because of the colder weather?”  
  
“Yes, but If I do that, I’ll run out of time.”  
  
Time?  
  
“Shion?”  
  
“Hmm?”  
  
“Is something wrong?”  
  
She smiled at him. “If I told you, you’d worry like Cheren and Bi always do. I don’t want that.”  
  
So something was wrong.  
  
“How much time do you need to complete your journey?” he asked.  
  
“If I’m lucky, I can get my last two badges before mid-winter.”  
  
 He paused. “What happens after that?”  
  
“Ah, ah! it’s a secret! See, I haven’t even told you and you’re already worrying.”  
  
“Well, can you blame me? You’re the first person I…”  
  
 She cocked her head to the side. “What?”  
  
 His head shifted downward. “…I don’t feel repulsed by.”  
  
 Even with his eyes downcast, he could feel her smile. “I guess that makes me a good girl. Hey, N, were you treated badly by people close to you before?”  
  
He looked up. “Oh no! Ghetsis has been very kind to me. He raised me ever since I was little, the Goddesses, too.”  
  
“Then why do you hate people so much?”  
  
“Because of what they can do to pokemon. Ghetsis always used to bring back injured and abandoned pokemon to our castle. I  
would take care of them. Some of the things they would tell me were just horrifying. Ghetsis said all people could do such terrible things.”  
  
Shion paused. “Wait, you have a castle? A real castle?”  
  
 He grinned. “It floats, too.”  
  
The utter glee on her face was hard to miss. “Man, I wish I knew you when I was little! A floating castle, lots of pokemon, and a little prince for a friend. I would have loved that.”  
  
“I can show it to you, if you want,” he said.  
  
“That would make me really happy.”  
  
“So, where are you heading next, Shion?”  
  
“Icirrus City.”  
  
“Really? I’m headed to Dragonspiral Tower. Can I… come with you for a little while?”  
  
It was then he felt the soft warmth of her hand grasp his own. “Okay! Audino, you don’t mind if N comes too, right?”  
  
For once, the little nurse did not glare at him, even as he took her arm and walked with her in the brisk cold.


	12. Present Roulette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion and N run into a Delibird.

“Oh, look N, it’s Santa! Hi Santa!”  
  
That was a Delibird. He’d heard of that pokemon before, but he’d never heard of this “Santa.”  
  
“What’s a Santa?” he asked.  
  
“You don’t know about Santa? Every winter, Santa would to come to the hospital I stayed at and handed out presents to all of the kids.”  
  
Wasn’t one of Delibird’s attacks called “present”?  
  
Didn’t those usually _explode_?  
  
“See the thing is, if you were good, you got sweets! If you were bad, the present blew up!” she said.  
  
“Let me guess, you got exploding presents a lot.”  
  
“No way, I get sweets every year! Watch! Santa~!”  
  
The Delibird landed.  
  
“Hey, Santa, I know it’s a little early, but can I have my present?”  
  
The Delibird looked her over. It reached into its sack and pulled out a present. It handed it to her and then took off into the air again. When she opened the lid, he panicked. He quickly pushed her down onto the snow.  
  
Nothing happened.  
  
She scurried over to the little box, completely unaffected by him shoving her down.  
  
“Yay! It’s a slice of strawberry cake! Thank you, Santa! See you again next year!”  
  
He looked inside. There was actually cake in that little box. She was either extremely lucky, or there was truth to her Santa theory.


	13. Limited Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something's wrong with Shion. Also, GOLEM-MAN~!

They spent the night in a nearby pokemon center. It was strange to share a room with someone else, even if it was only a bunk bed.

“I call top bunk!” Shion said. “Swoobat and I love to look at the stars before we sleep, don’t we, Swoobat?”  
  
Audino was glaring at Shion.  
  
“Oh, that’s right, I have to get changed. N, do you mind stepping outside for a second?”  
  
“Of course not. I am a gentleman, after all.”  
  
He amused himself by purchasing a few snacks. After he was done, he knocked on the door. “Can I come in now?”  
  
Silence.  
  
Audino was panicking, he could feel it. Why? The door was locked. “Shion?”  
  
No answer.  
  
“Audino, is everything alright in there?”  
  
Again, no answer.  
  
“Shion, I’m coming in!” N said as he rammed into the door. When he entered, the room, it was pitch black. Swoobat was unconscious on the floor and Audino was shaking, not with fear, but with rage. He didn’t understand, she was sitting perfectly still. What was wrong?  
  
“Shion?” he asked.  
  
“…Shion can’t come out to play right now….” she said.  
  
Without the hair band to hold it back, her wavy brown hair was very long. It was obscuring her eyes.  
  
N paused. Was that… a pair of hands gripping at the center of her chest?  
  
“…Can you see me? I wonder…” Shion whispered.  
  
N saw the hand squeeze her chest. She threw her head back and screamed.  
  
“Stop it! You’re hurting her! I can see you! Who are you?” N demanded.  
  
“…Oh, so you can also understand the speech of the likes of us? That’s rare. Usually whenever I awaken, all the people around her hear is incoherent babbling… Human tongues cannot usually comprehend the language of pokemon. I’d imagine that nurse has quite a grudge against me, but she’s just a normal type. She cannot harm me, even if she wishes to…”  
  
“So you’re a pokemon, then?” N asked.  
  
“An aspect of one, yes. My host sleeps far away from here, buried under the ground beneath a great tree….”  
  
“Which pokemon?”  
  
“…Cofargrigus. Would you like to see the scar I gave this foolish girl? My curse is spreading more and more. Soon this body will wither and die…”  
  
He could see it. The dark purple discoloration of her skin was showing through the white of her nightgown. It covered her whole body.  
  
Curse.  
  
It had used Curse.  
  
But how could that be? Pokemon never died from a curse, so long as the trainer switched them out of the battle. Why did it affect humans so differently?  
  
“Is there a cure?” N asked.  
  
“….You think I’d tell you that?”  
  
“She’s suffering, though.”  
  
“…So? Humans are selfish beings. We Cofargrigus were born from their desire to protect what is theirs from other humans. This human, though tiny at the time, posed a threat to my human’s treasure…”  
  
“Treasure? You’re killing her slowly all because of that?”  
  
“…Do you think I wanted to be chained to a human for all of my existence? Unlike the others, I was not used as a companion or a guard to my human. No, just his wealth and later, his corpse. My human has been dead for hundreds of years, yet I still feel bound by his will….”  
  
 “Can I make a deal with you?” N asked. “If I can set you free, will you release your curse on Shion?”  
  
“…Even if the curse is lifted, the life that has been taken by the curse cannot be return. She is not a pokemon. She will be frail, her life still short…”  
  
“I’ll still keep my end of the bargain.” N said.  
  
“…Very well… Until we meet again then…”  
  
N picked her Swoobat up off the floor and gave it a revive and a super potion. The bat shook himself off and kissed N on the nose. Swoobat then curled into Shion’s arms.  
  
“Did I fall asleep?” Shion asked. She sounded normal.  
  
“Yes. You looked so comfortable I didn’t want to disturb you. You were only asleep for a bit,” N said.  
  
Audino walked in with a tray of cups and cookies.  
  
“Hot chocolate!” Shion exclaimed. “How did you know I was craving some? Oh, you even put the little marshmallows in it, thank you, Audino! You’re the best nurse ever!”  
  
Was one of these cups for him?  
  
Audino nodded towards him.  
  
“Hey N, want to watch some TV?” Shion asked.  
  
He sipped his drink. “Sure.”  
  
“Oh! Look, Audino! Golem-Man is on TV again! Yay! Golem-Man!”  
  
“Golem-Man? That’s a Golurk in a red beach towel and hideously off center face mask,” N said.  
  
“Yeah! He’s the masked super pokemon hero! He showed up not too long ago, actually. He flies around and saves Skittys from tall trees and people from burning buildings, and he punches bad guys in the face with a DYNAMIC PUNCH! You know, hero stuff!”  
  
“I didn’t think it was possible for a pokemon to want to save people like that.”  
  
“They say Golem-Man has a trainer, but nobody can figure out who owns him.”  
  
“So he was just following orders.”  
  
“I don’t believe that. Pokemon have their own thoughts and feelings, they are not directly tied to the people who catch them.”

  
Perhaps she had a point. Her Swoobat, for example, had not followed any orders to protect her. He had tried to do that on his own, even though he must have known he was fighting a losing battle.  
  
She hugged her Swoobat to her chest. “N, do you mind staying up with me for a little while longer? I don’t really want to go to sleep right now. I… had a bad dream.”  
  
She seemed to know that something had happened.  
  
“I don’t mind. Do you like cartoons?”  
  
Shion smiled. “I love cartoons!”


	14. The Cure for Sadness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N tries to comfort a depressed Shion.

Around 2 A.M., Audino drew the line and clicked off the TV.  
  
Shion did not respond at first. She simply stayed curled in a ball on the edge of the bottom bunk.

  
He wanted to do something for her.  He felt his fingers twitch. He knew this feeling; he knew how to cure it. But she was a human. Could the same technique hold true for broken people?  
  
He sat down beside her. She turned away from him. He’d seen that reaction before, too.  
  
It was now or never.  
  
He put his arms around her.  
  
“I don’t get you. I’m a repulsive human; you hate them, don’t you?” Shion asked. “So why?”  
  
“I do, but honestly, you remind me more of a Minccino and I know for a fact that sad Minccinos like to be hugged. To me, it doesn’t matter if they’ve turned purple, or have tattered ears or broken tails, they still need to be loved,” he said.  
  
“…I like that pokemon a lot. I had a really nice one that used to come and help clean my room at the hospital. He’d always let me play with him after he was done with his work. Am I… really something that cute to you?”  
  
“You’ve always remind me of one of my favorite rehabilitated pokemon. She’s a Minccino. She’s really sweet. It was hard to believe that someone would force such a gentle soul to battle until she couldn’t anymore. Her tail was broken in the last battle she was in. The physical wound I could treat easily, but for a long time she wouldn’t come near me. She’d been too emotionally scarred. At first, I thought it was okay to just leave her alone, but then I realized more than anything, she wanted to be held and comforted. You’re the same. Once people see your skin, they draw away from you, don’t they?”  
  
She nodded. She gripped his jacked with her hand. “It’s like they think they’ll catch it from me once they see it. I hate it! I don’t want to be purple anymore! I don’t want to die!”  
  
He held her as she cried for nearly an hour.  
  
Strangely, Audino was nowhere to be found.  
  
“Hey, N?” she asked. Her head was still downcast. It was almost like she was speaking through his chest.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Will you take care of my pokemon for me when I’m gone?”  
  
Heavy silence.  
  
Why was she asking something like that?  
  
“You could even set them free if you really think that’s best, but please allow them to be happy. You’ll do that for me, won’t you, N?”  
  
“Of course I will.”  
  
She smiled at him. “Thank you. Um, can I sleep with Mr. Kitty tonight? I’d use my Krookodile, but I’m afraid he’d break my bunk because he’s heavy and still likes to scurry around everywhere. ”  
  
A dark type, the stronger type against a ghost.  
  
“Sure, I’ll lend Liepard to you, but you have to promise go to sleep.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
With that, she climbed the ladder to the top bunk.  
  
His pokemon was a little thrown by the request, but after he explained, Liepard jumped up to the top bunk without a fuss and curled on top of her covers. Liepard slept stretched out over her while Swoobat lay settled in her arms. Between the two of them, she would feel safe enough to sleep.


	15. Looking for Audino

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N tries to find Audino.

Where was Audino? Whenever she stepped out, she wasn’t usually gone this long. N went to go look for her in the lobby of the pokemon center.  
  
One of the human nurses was consoling Shion’s Audino. “There, there, dear; it’s alright. You’ve done everything in your power as a nurse to make that poor girl as comfortable as possible. Don’t cry. You’ve done a wonderful job with her.”  
  
Stupid woman, Audino was obviously distraught and all this human could do was smile like her pain was meaningless. Just how long had Audino been with Shion anyway? Probably a long time, given how close those two seemed.  
  
He stopped. If Shion was really going to die, what would he do after that? He had worked it out that she alone would be allowed to stay by his side in his ideal world. What if she died before that could happen?  
  
…He’d be alone again.  
  
No. She wasn’t dead yet. He had reasoned with Cofargrigus before, he could do it again.  
  
“Audino,” N said gently as he put his hand on her head.  
  
Audino’s ears peaked up at his voice. She rubbed her eyes.  
  
“You couldn’t cry in front of her, could you?”  
  
Audino shook her head.  
  
“Do you remember where the incident happened?”  
  
She nodded.  
  
“Could you take me to that place? I want to pay that ghost a visit. I’m sure you’d like to have a few words with him as well.”  
  
Audino looked to the side. The remark about her typing still stung.  
  
“You know, there is a way for normal moves to damage a ghost type,” he remarked.  
  
Audino’s ears perked up again.  
  
“I’m not saying you have to do anything with this information, but if you guided me…”  
  
The determination in her eyes was unmistakable. “I’ll go,” she said.  
  
 N smiled. “Very well, we’ll leave in the morning.”  
  
For the sake of his new ideal, he would do whatever was required to keep it.  



	16. Pinky Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion makes N promise to look after Audino.

“You want to borrow Audino?” Shion asked. “What brought this on, N?”  
  
She did not sound good at all. Her voice was very faint. The curse was spreading farther and farther down her body. It reached all the way down to her fingertips.  
  
“Only for a little while. I need her to come with me for an errand.”  
  
“You’ll protect her, right?”  
  
“Of course I will.”  
  
“Pinky Promise it,” she said.  
  
N paused. “What?”  
  
She smiled a little at that. “Give me your hand.”  
  
He wrapped his normal pinky around her tiny purple one. Her skin was bumpy and cold.  
  
“It’s a promise!” she said.  
  
N glanced at his hand. “This finger thing is a form of bondage?”  
  
“It’s a contract. You can’t go back on it no matter what! Audino’s been my nurse since I was little. If anything happened to her…. I don’t even want to think about it.”  
  
He watched as Audino pushed some of the buttons on the PC in the corner of the room.  
  
A pokeball appear on the transporter.  Which one had she called over?  
  
The pokeball popped open to reveal a baby bear.  
  
“Hi, Cubchoo!” Shion exclaimed with as much happiness as she could muster.  
  
The tiny bear scurried over to the bed and jump up onto it.  
  
“Hey, Cubchoo? Do you mind if I hug you for awhile? I don’t feel so good today. I’m all hot.”  
  
Cubchoo curled up against her chest.  
  
“Thanks,” she said. “You’re a big help.”  
  
That pokemon was acting as a living icepack to a sick girl who held it in her arms to keep it warm. He’d never seen something so symbiotic.  
  
 Her Krookodile was lying on the floor, seemingly ready to pounce on any unsuspecting visitor and Swoobat and Swanna were perched on posts the top bunk, seemingly acting as watchmen. He felt sorry for anyone who opened the door.  
  
Audino gave a few words to the other pokemon, mostly things that Shion needed to remember to do. Before they left, Audino rubbed Shion’s forehead. It was strange to see a pokemon give such an affectionate gesture to a human, but somehow it would have been stranger if Audino had done nothing at all.  
  
“Bye-bye,” Shion whispered.


	17. White Roses Left Under the Blackened Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N finds the tree where Shion was cursed. He also finds her mother.

They had been wandering in the snow for what seemed like hours.  In the distance, he could see a splotch of darkness against the white.  
  
That was the tree; it had to be. It matched Audino’s description perfectly. N quickened his pace. The weather seemed to be on his side for once; the snowfall was beginning to calm.  
  
A Hoothoot was sitting on one of the branches of the black tree, undisturbed by the softly falling snow, undisturbed by their presence.  
  
He saw something lying at the base of the black tree. There was a whole bouquet of white roses. He reached out for them.  
  
“Please don’t touch those!” a voice called out.  
  
A woman was behind him. How had he not noticed her before?  
  
“Those roses, they’re for my daughter. They’re her very favorite flower. So please, don’t disturb them.”  
  
Audino looked at the snow on ground. A flash of recognition had crossed her face before she cast it downward.  
  
Shame.  
  
“Forgive me; they were just so lovely against the dark tree. It was almost art,” N remarked.  
  
“I hate this tree,” the woman said with quiet bitterness.  “An incident happened here nearly ten years ago. It ruined the lives of my children. It made my son so silent and reclusive, and my daughter…. ”  
  
She couldn’t finish.  
  
“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your daughter?” N asked.  
  
“She bore the brunt of a curse. I never knew a pokemon attack could do such things to people. She was rushed off to the best hospital in Unova. The doctors ran test after test on her, getting my hopes up that she’d be able to come home one day, but days turned into years, and she never did. In the end, they said she wouldn’t make it to adulthood, that it would be better if they kept her there full time to care for her and do research, that I stop visiting because it would be too painful to watch my happy little daughter deteriorate so slowly. I suppose this tree is cursed, too. It wasn’t this black a few years ago. Shion, what’s happening to you now?”  
  
So it _was_ her mother.  
  
N thought of her skin, so very much like the bark of that tree, discolored, covered in bumps- _sick_. Was this tree suffering like she was?  
  
“Her fifteenth birthday… was going to be this spring,” her mother said.  
  
“… I’m sorry for your loss,” he said.  
  
The woman smiled a little. “Thank you for listening.”  
  
He watched as she took one last look at the blackened tree. The snowfall quieted her steps as she walked away from them, until at last, it washed out her sullen form completely.  
  
Audino whispered for forgiveness.  
  
Cofagrigus had to be under this tree.  
  
 Before he began, he picked up the bouquet Shion’s mother had left. Such a fragile gift did not deserve to be destroyed.

“Excadrill, come out.”  
  
The mole pokemon waited for his instructions.  
  
“Use dig. Don’t stop until you find a golden casket. I need to talk to the pokemon that lies under this tree.”

Excadrill nodded and began to dig.  
  
The Hoothoot opened one eye and watched him as he jumped down into the dark hole.


	18. Confrontation under the Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N and Audino find the Cofagrigus.

Excadrill’s underground path stretched on and on. Just how far down was he?  
  
Audino shined a flashlight ahead of him. For a pokemon, she was surprisingly prepared.  
  
“…Why have you disturbed me, human?” a voice asked.  
  
He could not see the pokemon at all. Was this even the right one?  
  
“I was promised an audience by an aspect of yours. Cofagrigus, I’ve come on behalf of the girl you cursed,” N said.  
  
“…Ah, yes, the little girl who threw a rock at my head to save the crying one who found me. She had spunk, that one…”

  
“Please, Cofagrigus, stop the curse.”  
  
“You want me to… spare her? The girl who banished me to this underground prison? I think not!”  
  
“Banished?” N asked.  
  
“My cursing the girl had… unforeseen repercussions. The humans of her town did not take kindly to it. They dug me up, bruised me, and buried me here so that I would never attack another human. Boy, have you come to kill me?”  
  
Audino looked at N.  
  
“I could never do something like that,” N whispered.  
  
“…Even if it would save her life?”  
  
N paused. “Yes, even if it would save her life. I believe Shion wouldn’t want to live if it meant you had to die. That’s the kind of girl she is.”  
  
Audino nodded.  
  
“…You trekked all the way here to try to save a girl, and you won’t take vengeance for her? You are a very strange human.”  
  
“I believe in the power of reason, not violence. There must be a way to compromise with you.”  
  
“…You say that now, but what if I refuse to help you?”  
  
“How long have you been down here? How many years have you been isolated?” N asked.  
  
“Nine.”  
  
“Hasn’t it been lonely for you?”  
  
“…Very, but removing the curse on the girl would not fix my current situation. I’ve been too demonized in the public eye to ever make it to the surface again.”  
  
“But wouldn’t you feel better if you removed the curse?”  
  
“…Would I? You assume I feel guilt.”  
  
 N raised an eyebrow. “You don’t?”  
  
“I do not. I was protecting my human’s treasure. I was in my right to attack intruders.”  
  
“But your aspect said your human died. Your pokeball has probably stopped functioning by now.”  
  
“…What are you saying?”  
  
“You are no longer tied to his will. I’ve studied the mechanics of pokeballs; the ball’s functions should have broken a few years after his death. The pokeballs need human contact to work.”  
  
“…Then I no longer have to put my life on the line for the sake of his treasure?”  
  
 N shook his head. “No. You’ve been free for a long time.”  
  
“Then I… cursed a little girl for no reason at all?”  
  
Silence.  
  
“Cofagrigus, I’m not going to condemn you for your actions, but please understand; only you can remove her curse. You’re the only one who can end her suffering.”  
  
“…Is she truly suffering?”  
  
“Yes. She’s become so weak lately. I don’t even like people all that much, but seeing her like that and knowing there’s nothing I can do to ease her pain…. It hurts my heart.”  
  
Cofagrigus sighed. “I understand. You are very honest for a human.”  
  
Cofagrigus began to glow.  
  
“My curse has been dispelled. It will give her few extra years at most, but she will not die in pain.”  
  
“Thank you!” N said.  
  
“Little nurse, as part of my penance, please hit me,” Cofagrigus said.  
  
Audino stood still. She had not said a word the entire time.  
  
“Audino?” N asked.  
  
“Will normal attacks be effective?” she asked.  
  
“If you wish, I will make my body solid,” Cofagrigus said.  
  
“One attack, just grant me that,” she said.  
  
“Very well.”  
  
Audino used Double Edge on Cofagrigus The forced of it slammed him into the wall. N’s eyes widened. He never expected something that powerful from her.  
  
Audino looked back at Cofagrigus. “Thank you for sparing my Shion.”  
  
“You’re hurt and out of breath,” N remarked.  
  
“I’ll be fine. Using Double Edge takes a little out of me. I only use it when I feel the overwhelming need to _smash_ something.”

The two of them walked back to the base of the hole.  
  
“Oh no, how are we going to get back up?” N asked.  
  
“N, use this,” Audino said.  
  
“An escape rope? Where do you keep these things, Audino?”  
  
Audino laughed. “A magician never reveals her secrets! Go ahead and climb up, I’ll follow!”  
  
”The tree isn’t black anymore…” N said.  
  
“The curse is really broken,” Audino whispered.  
  
“You did a very noble thing, young man,” a voice said.  
  
N turned around. He was expecting the voice to be the sleeping Hoothoot. What towered before him was a vast white-winged pokemon with blue eyes.


	19. Reshiram

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N and Reshiram chat.

“You’re Reshiram,” N whispered.  
  
“I am,” Reshiram said. “I have been watching you for some time now, Natural Harmonia Gropius.”  
  
N blushed. “You have? And just N is fine.”  
  
“Your desire for my friendship is intriguing to me. When one speaks of legends, it is often with the intent to control them. Yet, I do not feel that from you, but I could not be sure of you. I wanted to observe you as you backtracked from your own goal to help a girl with such a sad fate.”  
  
“You knew about Shion?” N asked.  
  
“Yes. Her case was strange, even by pokemon standards. Usually, we can see the reason behind why pokemon attack people. However, this incident was hard to classify. She was an innocent, simply trying to protect another. Was it man’s greed or Cofagrigus’s own will that resulted in him using curse on a human? N, had you had not intervened she would not have survived this winter. Her continued existence, as well as that of Cofagrigus, is thanks to you. The use of your gift is truly admirable.”  
  
“Thank you. So Shion will be alright now?”  
  
“Yes. She will still be frail in some ways, but she will live to her fullest potential for a few more years.”  
  
“That’s good. She’ll be able to see the completion of my world. I know she will. After that, I’ll figure something out. I’m sure science can help extend her life.”  
  
“What kind of world do you wish for, N?” Reshiram asked.  
  
“I want a world where pokemon can be free, where they don’t have to be bound by the wills of people. They can achieve the perfection nature intended for them.”  
  
“I see, you wish for a more primitive world.”  
  
 N paused. Primitive?  
  
“In some ways, yes. This current world, it’s too busy, too selfish.”  
  
“And what of the fate of the people of this world?”  
  
“They can have this imperfect world of theirs. I’m only taking Shion to mine.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
“Her soul is a pokemon’s soul. The sweetest pokemon in the world was reborn into that human girl. There’s no other way it could have happened.  Someone like her doesn’t deserve to suffer the same fate as all those other humans.”  
  
“That is what you think? I see. You were raised in a black room, and she in a white room.”  
  
“What do you mean?” N asked.  
  
“I can see your pasts playing out before me. You were raised alone your whole life, locked away in one little room of a gigantic castle. Your education was very selective to your cause. The fate of that girl was not that much different after the incident. Your only true companions were the pokemon friends you made.”  
  
“Reshiram, can you truly see the past?” N asked.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“Can I see Shion as a little girl?”  
  
“Such a thing interests you?”  
  
“Yes. If what you say is true, if we are the same, I want to see it for myself.”  
  
“Very well.”


	20. Little White Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N gets to see Shion's past.

The world around them began to dissolve into darkness. It was like he was standing in the middle of a giant movie screen. The events of her past played out all around him.  
  
“She’s impossible!” a human nurse exclaimed.  
  
“She’s only five,” the head doctor said with a laugh.  
  
“That’s why she’s impossible! There’s no reasoning with her! Send in that Audino to give her the shot; I don’t care anymore!”  
  
The doctor sighed. “Audino, would you please administer the shot to the patient in room 308?”  
  
He saw Audino enter the room. She must have been a nurse in training at that point.  
  
The little child was curled into a ball on the bed. She looked up when she heard the door open again. “Oh wow! A pokemon!” she said. She scurried to the end of the bed.  She paused.  “Are you going to give me a shot like that other scary nurse?”  
  
Audino held out her paw.  
  
“Candy!”  
  
Once the shot was done, she got to have the candy. Audino smiled as she watched her younger self rush after the rather rambunctious girl.  
  
“I said no!” the head doctor said.  
  
“But I just want to go outside!”  Shion cried.  
  
“You can’t, Miss Shion,” said the human nurse. She was leading the little girl by the arm.  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“We don’t know what the outdoors will do to you. Your condition is still very fragile,” the head doctor said.  
  
“But I just want to see the garden!” she cried. “It’s time for the flowers to bloom and I want to see them! Pretty, pretty please?”  
  
The nurse sighed. “Audino, please look after Miss Shion while she’s outside.”  
  
“Yay! I’ll be good! I promise! Come on, Audino!”  
  
The doctors and nurses were obviously confused; she seemed to be a perfectly normal girl by all regards.  
  
Then, one night, it happened. The aspect took over her body. The small girl was terrorizing the adult staff. To them, she was screaming gibberish. They did not understand the language of pokemon like he did.  
  
“Foolish humans! Free me from this prison! Let me go!”  
  
Cofagirgus’s aspect wanted out. Her clawing at the staff with her hands and teeth was written off as a random violent outburst. Never mind that Shion wanted out, too.  
  
Instead, they made their security around her more diligent. she was almost never allowed to be out of her room without some kind of supervision. Audino became Shion’s constant companion.  
  
“Audino, you know I didn’t mean to hurt anybody, right?” Shion sobbed. “Why did I do that? I don’t even remember doing it!”  
 

With Audino around, Shion was able to endure the constant tests of the doctors and growing feeling of loneliness as more and more people began to keep their distance from her. She had visitors, but for their own safety, they never were allowed to stay for long.  
  
Bianca would often bring toys. The two of them spent the hours making up adventures with them. Cheren would bring books for Shion to read. When he found out she struggled with reading some of the books, he began to make the trips to read to her. She seemed to enjoy that.  
  
Fairy tales were her favorite type of stories because she could read them on her own without much difficulty.  
  
“Hey Audino, isn’t my room kind of like a tower? Would that make the head nurse a witch and you my fairy godmother? I think you’d be good at that!”  
  
Audino laughed.  
  
“I hope I get to meet a prince someday! That’d be neat!”  
  
 N smiled. So that’s why she got so excited when she asked if he was a prince.  
  
The one who visited her most was Kohaku, her twin. He came by almost every day, along with her mother and father.  
  
Time passed, Shion grew. Her friends still visited often. Her mother and brother, too, but her father was nowhere to be found. What had happened to him?  
  
Suddenly, Kohaku’s visits just stopped. And finally, so did her mother’s.  
  
The doctors began to whisper more and more.  
  
She was getting worse.  
  
The last outburst of the aspect had been particularly bad. She had to be restrained to her bed while she was administered air through an oxygen mask. She had tried to go after her own throat. She still hadn’t regained consciousness.  
  
“This is bad. I never thought she’d actually turn violent against her own body,” the human nurse said. “Doctor?”  
  
The head doctor sighed. “In her current condition, given what I know about how Curse affects pokemon, I think she maybe has a year left to live. That last outburst really wore her body down.  I’m surprised she managed to pull through and regain her senses even a little. That must have taken a lot of work on her part.”  
  
“If that’s the case, maybe we should let her go on that pokemon journey she’s always wanted to start?” the nurse said.  
  
“Yes. I think that’s for the best.”  
  
So that was why they let her out. Shion had said something similar hadn’t she? That she wanted to try to finish her journey before winter ended? She must have known that she didn’t have much time left.  
  
N smiled to himself. How would she react when she made it to spring? He couldn’t wait to see it.


	21. The Scarf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N meets up with Shion again. Also, FLUFF!

N and Audino returned to Iccirus City shortly after he concluded his conversation with Reshiram. Teleporting them back had been the dragon’s last favor.  
  
The two had reached an agreement.  So long as he did not abuse the dragon’s power, Reshiram agreed to be his friend.  N clutched the pokeball in his hand. His dream… he’d just taken a huge step towards it. Ghetsis would be pleased with this development.  
  
He ran back into the pokemon center.  
  
Shion was sitting out in the lobby. Her skin was normal. Her voice was normal. The curse was really broken.  
  
 She waved at them. “Oh! Welcome back, N! Did you finish that errand?”  
  
N smiled. “Yes. Audino was a big help. Thank you for letting me borrow her.”

“So what did you need her for?” she asked.  
  
“I was… present shopping for the New Year,” he murmured.  
  
“Presents?” Shion said excitedly. “Oh that’s right! New Years is coming up! I should get presets for Bi and Cheren! I wonder if Kohaku wants one, too…”  
  
She didn’t mention his name. That stung a little.  
  
“Oh right, here N! This is for you!” she said as she handed him a box.  
  
“For me?”  
  
“Yes! Open it!”  
  
It was a scarf.  
  
“Did you… make this?”  
  
“Yep! My Mommy taught me how to knit a long time ago. I’ve made scarves for all my friends and now you have one, too! I think it’s my best one yet! It helped that I started to feel a whole lot better yesterday, so I was able to finish it before you got back.”  
  
 N looked down. “I… have nothing to give you in return. Your present isn’t ready yet.”  
  
“That’s okay! How about a hug? I like hugs! Oh right, you don’t like people…  Oh, I know! Mii~”  
  
Was she… trying to be a Minccino? No, he could see it now. That pokemon inside her heart, it was such a cute little thing. The fact that she openly wanted his attention was surprising. Nice, but surprising. Besides, she was to be his Queen; his companion. It would be alright to let his guard down a little. He put his arms around her.  
  
“I can’t believe that worked! You’re silly, N! You give nice hugs, though!” Shion said.  
  
Audino rolled her eyes.


	22. Small Happiness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N and Shion take the subway. Shion participates in a Pokemon Musical.

After getting her seventh badge, Shion said she wanted to go back to Nimbasa City.  
  
“Why?” N asked.  
  
“I want to enter in a Pokemon Musical. I wanted to when I was first there, but I didn’t have the energy or the spare time. Do you want to come with me, N?”  
  
He’d never watched a Pokemon Musical before.  
  
“Okay. I’ll accompany you.”  
  
She smiled. “Yay! I was hoping you’d say yes! Let’s take the subway! I’ve always wanted to ride one!”  
  
She grabbed his arm. She had a surprisingly strong grip, but it was also gentle, anticipatory.  
  
It was strange; he’d never been on a subway either, but, when he was with her he was able to remain calm, despite the darkness of the underground, despite the murmurings and stares of the countless other people. He kept one hand connected to her, always. He was afraid to lose her in the sea of people, lose her to her own newfound boundless energy. She didn’t seem to mind this. When they boarded, he kept her closer still, one hand to brace himself, the other to hold her near. The motion of the vehicle was soothing, familiar.  
  
“Wow, it’s like the world’s moving with us! I wonder if it is?” Shion asked.  
  
“It’s not. The earth does rotate, but we can’t feel it,” N said softly.  
  
“Oh. I didn’t know that!”  
  
He saw Audino smack her hand against her head in shame.  
  
When he remade the world, he’d be sure to give Shion a proper education.  
  
“Oh look! We’re here!” Shion said.  
  
She headed straight for the musical hall. He sat down at a table with Audino to watch the performances. Each trainer picked one pokemon to perform with.  
  
Shion stepped onto the stage. The costumes they lent out were surprisingly elaborate. The blue gown she chose looked like something out of a storybook. It was strange to see her hair up so high. She had a surprisingly large ponytail. She replaced her normal hair band with a blue ribbon.  
  
“Um, hello! My name is Shion. I’m-I’m from Nuvema town, or actually, it’s more like I’m from the Castelia City Hospital. This is my first time participating in something like this, so…. Um, I’ll be dancing to a Sato-Safi song ‘Psyche’ and using my Swanna as my partner.”  
  
Sato-Safi? Wasn’t that the name of a pop duet from one of the other regions?  
  
The lights dimmed and the music began to blast. Swanna was at her back, it looked like she had wings. The two of them moved together in perfect motion, as if Swanna’s wings were part of her own body. He was impressed that the two of them were able to keep in sync with the fast rhythm of the song. The story of the song was about a girl who had lost her most precious thing and how she was trying with all her might to regain it.  
  
Swanna broke away from Shion’s body at the climax of the song, soaring off, leaving a shivering husk behind that desperately chased after the bird. As she reached up for the sky, a lovely ring of water floated down into her hands.  At the end of the song, her wings finally returned to her back.  
  
The lights turned back on.  
  
“That was wonderful,” said the director. “Tell me, what made you decide to take the approach that you did with that song?”  
  
“Because we never realize how precious something is until we lose it,” she said with a smile.  
  
“And what is your most precious thing, Miss Shion?”  
  
“That’s a secret!” she said, her grin even wider.  
  
“You’ve raised a lovely Swanna young lady. Her wings are beautiful.”  
  
“Thank you!”  
  
She hopped down from the stage. “N! You watched me, right?”  
  
“I did. You were good.”  
  
“I never thought I’d actually be able to do something like that! I don’t know why, but I feel tons better! Do you think maybe a miracle occurred?”  
  
“Miracles are scientifically impossible. The only way to get anywhere is to do it yourself,” he said.  
  
“That still doesn’t explain how nine years of pain it just went away. I tried my very best, but I could only do so much for myself.”  
  
N grinned to himself. “Perhaps you have a fairy godmother?”  
  
Shion spun in place. “You know, I think I do! In this dress I feel just like Cinderella! This isn’t a dream right?  Thank you, Fairy Godmother!” she called out.  
  
“Miss, would you like a complementary photo?” a man asked.  
  
“Oh, yes please!” Shion said.  
  
She pulled N close to her as the camera flashed.  
  
"You look like a Deerling caught in the headlights!” she said with a laugh.  
  
“You did that on purpose,” N muttered.  
  
“I think it’s cute! Kohaku was always the same whenever Daddy took pictures of us. This picture will prove it wasn’t a dream, that I actually accomplished one of my goals.”  
  
“So if this represents your dream, why did you pull me into it?” he asked.  
  
“Because I wanted you to be in it. You’re my friend. Besides, dreams should be shared!”  
  
 Friend? This was what friendship felt like?  
  
“Can I get a copy of this?” he asked.  
  
“You want one, too? Yay! This’ll be our shared moment! That means I’m your friend too, right? I’m so happy! Now I have three friends!”


	23. Target

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember that warning the Ninjas gave N in part 5? Yeah, it's explained here.

N left for just a moment to go get some drinks. When he returned Shion was on the floor, seemingly pinned to the ground by a boy with red hair. The Shadow Triad had warned him never to touch Shion carelessly. Now he understood why.  
  
He heard something click when the boy’s hand brushed against her chest. Her Krookodile popped out of his pokeball and proceeded to pounce on the redheaded boy, but Krookodile was nothing compared to Audino.  
  
She used Double Edge on the boy, sending him flying.  
  
“Shion! Are you alright?” N asked as he helped her up.  
  
“I- I’m okay. We sort of fell into each other and it knocked me down. Audino, please don’t Double Slap him anymore! I don’t think he meant to hurt me!”  
  
Despite her words, Shion was shaking. She hid herself behind him.  
  
“Shion, did he bother you while I was gone?”  
  
She nodded.  
  
“Do I need to defend your honor?” he asked. “Because I’m willing to do that.”  
  
She shook her head. “I’m okay, really."  
  
“Nice going, Akane, now you’ve made a scene,” a blue-haired boy said.  
  
“I’m getting the stuffing beat out of me by an angry pink bunny and that’s all you can say to me? Some help you are, Aoi!” said the redhead.  
  
“Well, it did sort of look like harassment,” Aoi remarked.  
  
“I was just going to ask her some questions!”  
  
“It still looked like harassment, Akane.” The blue-haired boy looked over at them.  “Please don’t be alarmed! We meant her no harm, really! I’m Aoi, this is my older brother, Akane. We’re originally from Kanto.”  
  
“Kanto? That’s rather far away from Unova, isn’t it?” N asked.  
  
“Yeah, we’re on a scouting mission,” Akane said. “Apparently, some goons called Team Plasma are making some trouble and our department sent us to check it out.”  
  
“Akane! Don’t tell them that! You might compromise us!” Aoi said.  
  
“I didn’t say _who_ sent us; so it’s fine. Besides, I hate all this undercover crap.”  
  
Aoi sighed and showed his badge. “We’re from the P.P.D. Kanto branch, Investigations unit.”  
  
Was he trying to say that he was a cop? But they had been so careful not to draw attention to themselves.  
  
“I only wanted to ask this cute girl here if she knew anything about them. Our sources indicate that Plasma has targeted her for some reason,” Akane said. “Recently, they’ve sent a lot of grunts to try and beat her in a battle, whereas before it was just one or two.”  
  
“Yes, but I always beat them,” Shion said. “Even when I was sick, I beat them.”  
  
“What? They attacked her while I was gone?” N asked.  
  
Shion smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, but I managed. I think they realized I’m really cranky when I don’t get my nap in.”  
  
“Miss, they’re planning to beat you in a battle and then take you hostage as well, not just your pokemon,” Aoi said.  
  
“Team Rocket did a case like that in Johto a few years ago, the results were anything but pretty,” Akane said.  
  
“That was our first mission, too,” Aoi said softly.  “Then Team Galactic tried it with a little girl from Sinnoh last year. At least we were able to save her and get her back to her family. I don’t want to repeat it again.”  
  
N went numb. Why was Plasma after Shion? He’d made sure to tell all of his underlings that she was under his protection. Wait, only one person had a higher authority than him when it came to Team Plasma.  
  
Ghetsis.  
  
He’d completely forgotten about meeting Ghetsis at Dragonspiral tower. Oh great, Ghetsis was angry with him.  If he didn’t do something to calm him, Shion would be the one to get hurt.  
  
“We just wanted to make sure she’d be alright, but she seems to be in good hands. You have raised some very strong pokemon,” Aoi said with a grin. “Right, Akane? Miss Shion, if you ever feel threatened, or are in need of anything, please call us.”  
  
“…I’ll call you, Aoi,” Shion said. She glared at Akane. “I don’t like you!”  
  
N didn’t like him either.  
  
“Oh, alright then!” Aoi said with a smile as he handed her his card.  “Come on, Akane.”  
  
With that, they left.  
  
Shion snuck out from behind him.  
  
“Um, N?”  
  
 He looked down. “Forgive me, I just wanted to make them get away from you.”  
  
Shion grabbed his arm. “Actually, I was going to thank you for that. I’m not… very good with people sometimes. I used to be, but after I entered the hospital, I think I lost a lot of my social skills, especially around boys my own age, I’m still such a kid that I only seem to get along with girls like Bi.” She laughed a little.  
  
“Say Shion, where did your Krookodile come from?”  
  
Shion just smiled at him. “That’s a secret!”


	24. The First Day of Spring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion discovers she's outlived her winter deadline. N discovers he's liked.

He had to think of something to calm Ghetsis down. Ghetsis would be happy at his news of befriending Reshiram, but would that be enough? Would that be enough to save her?  
  
“N, is something wrong?” Shion asked. “You look stressed.”  
  
Shion was sitting beside him on the bottom bunk of the pokemon center, running a brush through her hair. He no longer detested the idea of sharing space with her.  
  
“It’s nothing you need to worry about, Shion. Shall we go get some breakfast?”  
  
She grabbed his hand. “Can we get some muffins at the bakery?”  
  
“If you wish,” he said.  
  
The morning air was brisk, but not unpleasant, the last of the snow was thawing. A flower was beginning to bloom. Shion stooped down and looked at it.  
  
“It’s spring, isn’t it?” she whispered.  
  
She stayed very quiet.  
  
“Is something the matter?” he asked.  
  
“It’s just.. the doctors and the nurses… they said I’d never make it to spring, but I guess… I’ll get to see the flowers bloom again this year.” She got up and returned to his side. She squeezed his arm.  
  
He’d never seen so many emotions in one face before. Confusion, tears from pent up sorrow, or was it joy?  
  
“Shion?”  
  
She rubbed her eyes. “Sorry, I don’t mean to cry, but I…”  
  
“It’s alright. It’s better to shed happy tears than to shed sad ones, right?”  
  
She smiled then. “You’re right! You know what? I’m glad we met!”  
  
That was the first time anyone had said anything like that to him.  
  
“W-Why say something like that?” he stammered.  
  
She grabbed his hands. “Because I want to be sure to say it, if this whole thing is a fluke and I die tomorrow, I want to die knowing I told you that I’m glad we met. N, thank you for staying with me. It’s been so much fun! I really like you a lot, and not just because you’re a prince, but because you’re you.  I hope we can always be friends!”  
  
Her words seemed so genuine.  
  
Someone actually… _liked_ him?  
  
The warmth inside his chest was returning.  
  
“Sorry, was that an odd thing to say?” she asked.  
  
He squeezed her hands. “No. I’m glad we met, too. Truly, I am. I hope you get to see many more springs, Shion. Someone like you deserves to see all of the beautiful flowers this world has to offer.”  
  
“Maybe you and I can go together sometime when the weather is nicer?” she asked. “I know, we could have a picnic lunch!”

  
He could picture it. A sunny day, blue sky, it was just the two of them sitting under a tree while their pokemon relaxed around them. She made the lunches; they were still horrible, but she was improving. And then… they just sat. They watched the clouds, smelled the flowers, talked of nothing, slept in the sunlight and shadows.  
  
Peaceful.  
  
Yes, he didn’t mind that idea at all.  
  
“I’d love to,” he said.


	25. Picnic Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion and N go on that picnic. Turns out Aoi and Akane had the same idea.

“Yay! It’s finally sunny outside!” Shion said. “N, do you want to have our picnic today?”  
  
This could be his only chance.  
  
“Sure.”  
  
“Okay! I’ll go make some lunches and you grab a blanket. Audino, could you come and help me please?” Shion said.  
  
He folded the oversized blanket with practiced precision.  
  
“Okay! We’re ready!” she said.  
  
  
The walk into the grass was pleasant. It was just like he imagined it would be.  
  
“How about this spot, N?” Shion asked.  
  
“No way! This is our spot!” a voice said.  
  
Shion immediately hide behind him. He knew that abrasive voice. The loud redheaded cop was nearby.  
  
“What are you two doing here?” N asked.  
  
“We’re not stalking you. Aoi wanted to have lunch on the hill,” Akane said.  
  
“It’s got a nice view,” Aoi said.  
  
“It… it does!” Shion said.  
  
“Oh? Did we interrupt a date or something?” Akane asked.  
  
“Date?”  Shion asked.  
  
“What’s that?” N asked.  
  
“Never mind,” Akane said.  
  
“Why don’t we all eat together?” Aoi asked.  
  
“N?” Shion asked.  
  
“I suppose we could make a truce,” N said.  
  
 Aoi smiled.  
  
Their shared lunch wasn’t exactly what he had first anticipated, but it wasn’t horrible. Shion stayed close to him the whole time. He wasn’t sure if this was out of loyalty to him or fear of Akane. Aoi, however, was much more bearable. He always smiled and made polite conversation with them; his cooking was also very good.  
  
“Miss Shion, if you’d like I could give you some pointers on how to make these,” Aoi said.  
  
“Oh could you? This is only the second time I’ve cooked!”  
  
“Though, these were an improvement over your first attempt,” N said.  
  
Shion smiled. “You really think so? Yay! Hey, N, can I play with Mr. Kitty?”  
  
“If you wish.”  
  
“Say, Aoi, what kind of pokemon do you have?” Shion asked as she cuddled with the cat.  
  
“Water types mostly.”  
  
“Are they your favorite?” Shion asked. “Eee! That tickles, Mr. Kitty!”  
  
“Yes. I’ve always felt very attached to the water. It holds very fond memories for me.”  
  
“I wish I could see them, but there’s no water for them to play in,” Shion said. “Hehe, you like having your belly rubbed, don’t you? Don’t hide it! Silly kitty!”  
  
“The next time we meet, I’ll show you, okay?” Aoi said. “I’m sure you’d get along with them.”  
  
Shion smiled. “I’m going to go nap in the sun. I forgot how good it feels! If anybody tries anything, Zebstrika will use Stomp on your face!”  
  
N had a feeling that was directed at Akane. He watched his pokemon follow her.  
  
“Odd, why would she want to take a nap right after lunch?” Akane asked.  
  
“She was in the hospital for a long time. Relaxing in the sun probably feels good,” Aoi said. “I wonder if it’s sunny where Ai is right now.”  
  
“Who is Ai?” N asked.  
  
“Ai is my fiancée,” Aoi said.  
  
“She’s not your fiancée!” Akane exclaimed.  
  
“What’s a fiancée?” N asked.  
  
“Oh, she’s the person I promised my heart to.”  
  
“You were _four_ when you promised to marry her!” Akane said.  
  
“So? She still believes that we are, and I still want to be with her,” Aoi countered.  
  
“I don’t understand. How does one promise such a thing?” N said.  
  
“See, when we were really little, Ai’s parents died. She was crying all the time after that, saying that nobody would love her ever again. I said I would. She asked if I would marry her and I said yes. She stopped crying after that and started to smile,” Aoi said.  
  
“So she’s your princess?” N said.  
  
 Aoi smiled. “She is. What about you N? Do you have anyone special to you?”  
  
“It’s obvious he’s got the hots for darling little Shion,” Akane said.  
  
“Hot? It’s not that hot,” N said. “Then again, I should make sure she has enough shade.”  
  
“I’m saying you dig her,” Akane said.  
  
N looked horrified. “I never asked Excadrill to do that!  Knowing her, she’d fall into the hole!”  
  
“Were you raised under a rock or something?” Akane asked.  
  
“In a floating castle, actually,” N said.  
  
“You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! No wonder you’re so socially inept! If that’s the case, I just may steal Shion for myself! You don’t even know what you’re doing!”  
  
“Akane!” Aoi exclaimed.  
  
“Don’t you t touch her!” N snapped.  
  
 Akane laughed. “Relax, dude, she’s too childish for me, anyway. Not my type at all.”  
  
“Yes, I can see it now; you’re a fire-type through and through,” N said.  
  
“What the heck are you talking about?” Akane asked.  
  
“It’s hard to imagine such a gentle, easy-going water-type is your twin. Someone like you, who’s loud, destructive, and reckless, would never make a normal-type like Shion happy.” With that, he turned and stormed off in the direction Shion went.  
  
“Now you’ve gone and made him mad,” Aoi said.  
  
 “What a weirdo. It was just a joke.” Akane said.  
  
“It seems he does have feelings for her, even if he doesn’t understand them. If he really is a member of Team Plasma this must be very difficult for him,” Aoi said.  
  
“Why doesn’t he just defy them?” Akane asked.  
  
“If our information is true, then his father figure is the real leader. You of all people should understand how complicated something like that is, Akane.”  
  
“I guess. What do you want to do, Aoi?”  
  
“I want to keep an eye on them for now. You report back to dad.”  
  
“Why do I have to go back to him?” Akane asked.  
  
“Because I don’t think Shion wants to be followed by the guy who groped her, accidentally or not. N might punch you if you tried to follow them now. He seemed about ready to fight you when you said you’d steal her.”  
  
“Be careful, Aoi. They look like goons, but Plasma could still be dangerous.”  
  
 Aoi smiled. “I’ll be fine.”


	26. Parting Ways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N is is forced to say goodbye. Shion makes a vow.

He could feel the Shadow Triad were behind him. This wouldn’t end well.  
  
“Lord N, Master Ghetsis wishes your attendance _immediately_ ,” said one.  
  
“But I don’t want-”he began.  
  
“I’m sorry, sir. We know you value Lady Shion, but we can no longer protect her.  You have to sever ties with her, for her own safety.”  
  
“Just… let me say goodbye to her first.”  
  
“Very well. You have half an hour to say goodbye to her.”  
  
With that, they left.  
  
Half an hour. Jut thirty minutes. That wasn’t much time at all, especially if she was still napping.  
  
“N, are you alright?” Aoi asked.  
  
Could he tell him? Could he trust him?  
  
“Aoi, can you… promise me something?” N asked  
  
“Yes?”  
  
“Please watch over Shion for me.”  
  
“You don’t have to worry, N. I was going to ask if she’d like to go with me to Opeluicd City. She could get her last badge and I could meet with the dragon masters there. Absolutely no harm will come to her so long as I’m around.  Whatever it is you have to tell her, you should do it.”  
  
Aoi was right; it was best to be straight with her. So he waited.  
  
Shion stretched. “Mmm! Hi N,” she said.  
  
“Did you have a nice nap?” he asked.  
  
“Yes.”  
  
“That’s good. Shion… I think we should part ways.”  
  
Shion bolted upright. It scared her Zebstrika into alertness. “How come? You’re having fun, right?” she asked.  
  
“Yes I am, but…”  
  
“N, is something wrong? Something’s wrong isn’t it? You’ve been acting so strange recently! Or at least, strange for you.”  
She looked concerned. Not just concerned, like she was about to cry. He couldn’t just leave her in that state.  
  
He pulled her into a hug. “Please don’t be upset with me, Shion.”  
  
She clung to his jacket. “But I don’t want you to go away! Don’t go, N, please! I like having you with me!”  
  
“Someone in Team Plasma is after your life, Shion. I can’t jeopardize that. I won’t jeopardize that. I’m going back to them so you will not die needlessly. Not after all I did to save you the first time.”  
  
“What do you mean?” she asked.  
  
“Cofagrigus broke the curse on you because I asked him to.”  
  
She was silent for a good minute. “So the reason I’m alive right now is because of you?”  
  
“Yes. Are you angry with me?”  
  
She laughed. “No. Actually, I thought that might have been what happened! I thought it was strange that Audino wouldn’t talk about it. Wow, I actually got my wish!”  
  
“Wish?”  
  
“I wanted to be saved from my fate by a prince, like in Sleeping Beauty or Snow White.”  
  
He had to smile at that.“Shion, when we meet again we will likely be on opposite sides.”  
  
“No. I’m going to save you this time! I don’t care who I have to beat. I’ll even take down Ghetsis if I have to! You said I could be a hero; let me try to be yours!”  
  
“Shion…”  
  
“Just you watch! If you’re my prince, I’ll be your knight! Here! This is my favorite token. No matter what happens, don’t you dare forget yourself, N!”  
  
N looked at the slender blue object in his hand. “But this is the ribbon you got from the musical hall…”  
  
“Yep! So you better take good care of it until I come to get you!”  
  
He held the ribbon to his chest. “I will. Goodbye, Shion.”  
  
“I don’t like goodbyes. They always seem so final.”  
  
“What should I say to you then?”  
  
“See you soon!”  
  
“Alright, see you soon, Shion.”  
  
“See you soon, N!”  
  
It was hard to let go of her hand. To see her back turned to him, to turn his back to her.  
  
The Triad was waiting for him. It was time.  
  
His destiny.  
  
Her destiny.  
  
They would meet again. He had no doubt about that now. He just had to wait. He would see his princess again.


	27. Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion ties to figure out how she feels.

After N left, everything around her felt different.  
  
  
Aoi was accompanying her to Opalucid City, but it didn’t feel the same. Aoi had been traveling around for many years, he told her about his home region of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. He was seventeen and had already been so many places. Her own story seemed so boring in comparison, so childish.  
  
She was still a child.  
  
She paused. He was an adult. Maybe he would know how to explain it.  
  
“Aoi, what does it mean when your heart goes pitter-pat when you’re around someone?” she asked.  
  
“Well, is this person special to you, Miss Shion?” he asked.  
  
“Very!”  
  
“Then that’s perfectly normal.”  
  
“You mean its okay to feel this warm feeling when you’re not related?”  
  
“You have friends, don’t you, Miss Shion?”  
  
“Yes, but this feels different than normal friendship.”  
  
“When did you start to notice this feeling?”  
  
“When I was… dying. I noticed he was becoming special to me, more special than anyone who wasn’t my family. I know what he’s trying to do, he’s trying to protect me, but I want to protect him, too!”  
  
“That’s normal, too.”  
  
 “No matter what it takes, I will become stronger!”  
  
“Well then, how will you become stronger?”  
  
“I’ll befriend the other dragon and take N on myself,” she said.  
  
Aoi sighed. “He’ll get mad if you push yourself too hard.”  
  
“I owe him a lot, more than I can ever pay back. When I was suffering, he went out of his way to ease it and he doesn’t even like people, but he still risked so much for me. Now he’s suffering and I want to return the feeling. I want him to know he can depend on me, too.”  
  
“But you could die.”  
  
“If it’s to protect him, then it doesn’t matter. Even if he hates me for it, I’d gladly give my borrowed time back for his sake.”

“How much has he told you, Miss Shion? We’re still not clear what exactly he wants to do.”  
  
“N said he wants to remake the world for the betterment of pokemon. I don’t think he should take it that far because lots of people love their pokemon, but at the same time I think I understand what he means. He likes to shelter the things that this world abandons; things like me.  If he just had an island or something where he could live with all of his friends… I think that’d make him really happy. I want to see _that_ world.”  
  
“So you want him to achieve his dream, just on a smaller scale?” Aoi said.  
  
“Yes. If I can take down Plasma, take out the urgency, maybe he’ll see my side. He’s not a bad person, Aoi, but not everyone will see him as I do.”  
  
Aoi thought for a moment. “If we find him, if we can stop him, I’ll see about getting him some kind of leniency. You’re right; he doesn’t seem like a bad person. Somehow, I don’t think he’s the mastermind here. It was obvious he wanted to stay with you, Miss Shion.”  
  
Shion smiled. “Thanks, Aoi!”  
  
Love. This emotion was love.


	28. In the City of Dragons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion and Aoi make it to Opalucid City.

“Wow, Opalucid City is so pretty and old-timey looking!” Shion said. “Be careful walking on the on the stones, okay, Zebstrika? I don’t want you hurt your hoofy hooves.”  
  
Zebstrika stopped walking.  
  
An old man was blocking their path. He cast his eyes on Aoi. “We’ve been expecting you, Master Aoi,” an old man said.  
  
“What’s he talking about, Aoi?” Shion asked.  
  
“Nothing. Sir, I’m just a trainer form Pallet Town.”  
  
“He’s a dragon-user alright. I can see it in his eyes,” a little girl said. When she spied Shion, her eyes lit up. “Hi! Shion!”  
  
“Hi! Iris! Thanks so much for helping Bi when she got her pokemon stolen before.”  
  
“No problem! I can’t stand bullies! So Shion, how many more badges do you need?” Iris asked.  
  
“Just the one from this city.”  
  
“Wow, good for you! You’ve made a lot of progress!”  
  
“Iris, would you like to be the one to battle her? I need to talk with this trainer about some adult matters.” The old man said.  
  
“Of course!” Iris grabbed her hands as soon as Shion hopped off of Zebstrika.  “Come on! This should be fun! I could tell you were strong when we met! I’m excited just thinking about it!”  
  
The old man paused. “They’re gone.”  
  
“Good. Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to be rude to you, Drayden.”  
  
“Master Aoi, why didn’t you identify yourself properly? You are among friends here.”  
  
“It’s not that I’m not proud of my heritage, but…”  
  
“You like being a normal trainer more than the heir to your father’s legacy,” Drayden finished.  
  
“I still don’t feel I’m worthy to be called a Dragon ‘Master’.  Besides, I’m guarding Miss Shion right now. The last thing I want to do is draw attention to myself as a potential target. That’s more Akane’s style, anyway.”  
  
“Guarding her from what?” Drayden asked.  
  
“Team Plasma’s out to kill her.”  
  
Drayden drew back. “What? Why?”  
  
“They have reason to believe she’s the second hero from the stories. She’s also a danger to them because their King has fallen in love with her. He may or may not be chosen as the first hero.”  
  
“Do _you_ believe that she is one of the heroes. Master Aoi?”  
  
“I think she could be, yes. She’s frail, but she has a very strong heart. She’s been through a lot of hardship and understands the value of kindness. I think that makes her a worthy hero.”  
  
“I see. Would you like to come watch the battle between my granddaughter and your charge?”  
  
“I would! Miss Shion’s battles are interesting to watch!”  
  
When they entered the gym, the battle was already underway.  
  
“You’re really good, Shion!” Iris said.  
  
“Thanks, Iris! You’re definitely the strongest person I’ve faced so far! Emboar! Don’t give up! We can do this! Use Flame Charge and then Brick Break!”  
  
Drayden laughed. “She’s spunky. It looks like Iris is having fun.”  
  
“Aww! I lost!” Iris exclaimed.  
  
Shion laughed. “Yay, Emboar! That was fun, Iris!”  
  
“Miss Shion, sit down, you’re all out of breath,” Aoi said as he lead her to a chair.  
  
Audino brought her a glass of water.  
  
Drayden looked her over. She was thin, under-developed, and definitely frail, but there was a kind of warm strength to her. The way she patted and praised her pokemon for a job well done, the way she smiled despite being so tired. He could see what Aoi meant.  
  
“Iris.”  
  
“Yes, Grandpa?”  
  
“Bring the black stone out from its case.”  
  
“Right away!”  
  
Drayden held a silver chain in front of her. “Miss Shion, please touch the stone at the end of this chain.”  
  
“Okay.”  
  
She put her hands to the black stone.  
  
“Ah, it’s warm!” she said.  
  
“It is?” Drayden asked.  
  
“Grandpa, do you think that-?”  
  
“Perhaps. Miss Shion, would you object to holding onto the black stone for a little while?”  
  
“Can I, really?”  
  
“You’ve… become attached to it?”  
  
“Yes. I can feel a heartbeat inside of the stone. It’s waiting for something.”  
  
“You can tell that, Shion?”Iris asked.  
  
“Yeah. Is that strange?”  
  
“No,” Drayden said. He clasped the chain around her neck. The stone fell over her heart. “It’s been a very long time since anyone has felt a heartbeat from that stone. Please cherish it.”  
  
“Of course!”  
  
“Shion, now that you have all eight badges, are you going to go to the Pokemon League?” Iris asked.  
  
“Do you think I could really make it that far?” Shion asked.  
  
“Sure you could!” Iris said. “Bianca, Cheren, me, we’re all rooting for you!”  
  
“He’s probably going to be there,” Shion whispered. “Aoi, will you accompany me a little while longer?”  
  
Aoi smiled.“Of course, Miss Shion. This Victory Road is a mountain path. I wouldn’t dream of leaving you alone during something like that.”  
  
A mountain. She clutched the stone over heart. She could climb a mountain, couldn’t she?


	29. Future Sight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile in N's castle..

N was grounded.  
  
Ghetsis didn’t listen to anything he said, not until he got to the part about Reshiram. That was when he was slapped.  
  
 _“Foolish boy. If you hadn’t dawdled on with that woman, we might have achieved our goal faster!”_  
  
His cheek still stung a bit. He lay on his bed. He’d forgotten how slow his world was compared to the outside. He glanced up. Model planes hung from his ceiling.  
  
Shion liked planes. Where was she right now? Was she taking care of herself? How was Audino doing? If she saw how miserable he was right now, would what would she do?  
  
 _“Don’t worry, N! Everything will be alright!”_  
  
Her smile. Warmth. A hug.  
  
He scratched his Minccino’s tattered ears. She had curled up on his chest to sleep.  
  
“I felt him. My other half has stirred from slumber.”  
  
The voice was Reshiram’s.  
  
“Zekrom’s awake?” N asked.  
  
“Yes. If only partly.”  
  
“Who woke him?”  
  
“The girl with the cursed fate. The one you saved.”  
  
N sat up quickly. He cradled the sleeping Minccino in his arms, so she would not be disturbed. “Shion actually did it?”  
  
“Yes. It seems my other half is evaluating her.”  
  
“Thank goodness. I wasn’t wrong about her.”  
  
“Wrong about whom, Lord N?” a voice asked.  
  
“Oh, hello Concordia; hello Athena.”  
  
“Lord N has changed since we saw him last,” Athena said. “His mind is filled with thoughts of something precious.”  
  
“Lord N, why are you perplexed?” Concordia asked. She cradled his head in her arms.  
  
“Because I’m worried.”  
  
“About our plan? You needn’t worry about that. You will be wonderful. A true and noble King,” Concordia said.  
  
“Or perhaps something else is on your mind?” Athena asked.  
  
“The little princess, maybe?” Concordia finished.  
  
He felt his face flush.  
  
“Ah, you guessed right!” Athena said.  
  
“It wasn’t that hard. Lord N, we have known you since you were just a boy. You can’t hide anything from us,” Concordia said.  
  
“Or Ghetsis,” Athena added. “He knows you are preoccupied.”  
  
“I just… I want her to be alright. I want to see her again,” N said.  
  
“A human girl?” Concordia said in shock.  
  
“You know what Master Ghetsis says about human women, don’t you, Lord N?” Athena said.  
  
“She’s not a full human. She’s a pokemon’s soul reborn as a human,” N corrected.  
  
“Ah, then perhaps Master Ghetsis will approve of your princess, my dear King,” Concordia said.  
  
“I hope he does. I want Shion to stay with me in my new world.”  
  
“Yes, of course, a King needs a Queen.” Athena paused. “It’s rude to listen in on someone’s personal conversation,”  
  
“Excuse the interruption ladies, but Master Ghetsis requires Lord N’s attendance,” said a grunt.  
  
“Understood,” N said.  He placed Minccino down on his bed before exiting his room. He walked down the long hallway to Ghetisis’s chambers. “You wanted to see me, sir?” he said as he peeked into the dark room.  
  
“N, I want Reshiram to use Future Sight,” Ghetsis said.  
  
Could Reshiram even do that?  
  
“Why?”  
  
“I want to know if our plan will succeed.”  
  
 “Yes sir. Reshiram, come out, please.”  
  
The pokeball opened, but Reshiram simply went back inside.  
  
“What is the meaning of this?” Ghetsis demanded. “Did you catch it or didn’t you?”  
  
“I did, but…” N began.  
  
“I will not serve him in this manner. He has done nothing to prove his worth to me. I only answer to the will of my chosen hero,” Reshiram said.  
  
 N repeated the dragon’s words.  
  
“If I wasn’t afraid of angering the dragon, you can bet that your insolence would not be tolerated!” Ghetsis snapped. “Go to your room!”  
  
N walked back down the long hallway into his room and shut the door. He moved Minccino back onto his chest. Her soft breathing soothed his rattled nerves.  
  
“Reshiram. Can I see where Shion is now?”  
  
“Of course. Though it is late, she might be sleeping.”  
  
“That’s alright. If she is, I’ll just watch for a little while.”  
  
"Very well."  
  
Shion and Aoi were camped at the base of Victory Road. She wasn’t really going to climb that big mountain all by herself, was she?  
“Please be careful, Shion,” he whispered.  
  
“Goodnight, Aoi. Thanks for the delicious meal! And thanks for showing me how to make it,” Shion said.  
  
“You’re welcome. Sweet dreams, Miss Shion,” Aoi replied.  
  
“Goodnight, Kohaku. Goodnight, Mommy and Daddy. Goodnight, Cheren and Bi. Goodnight, N.”  
  
When had she added his name to that list?  
  
He grinned to himself. “Goodnight, Shion.”  
  
Reshiram’s vision stopped. “If you’d like, I can keep an eye on her as you sleep,” Reshiram said.  
  
“Please do. That mountain worries me. If anything happens, please tell me.”  
  
“As you wish.”


	30. Persistence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion is very determined and N is very worried.

N sighed. The hours by himself were lonely.  How had he managed this before? Usually he could play with the pokemon, but they had all settled in for the night.  
  
Reshiram showed him Shion again. He didn’t even have to ask anymore.  
  
Shion developed a peculiar habit of scratching her neck. She’d done it at least once every time he watched her.  
  
“Don’t scratch it so much, Miss Sion; let me look at it first,” Aoi said.  
  
“Lord N,” a voice said.  
  
N startled into attention. Reshiram looked undisturbed by the visitor. “Hi, Concordia.”  
  
“Are you watching the little princess again?” Concordia asked.  
  
“I can’t help it. I want to be close to her. Concordia, what’s it like to be in love?”  
  
“Love is the most wonderful and painful thing in the world,” Concordia said. “When your love is happy you’re happy. When they’re sad, so are you. You struggle and grow together, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker, but if you persist, there’s nothing better than waking up and seeing that person by your side. It’s like part of you is always with them. Is that what you feel right now?”  
  
N paused. “Concordia, how do you show someone you love them?”  
  
“You want to know that sort of thing? I suppose it’s alright, you are an adult now. A simple way to show love is to hold hands or hug. Or perhaps, you would like to learn how to kiss?”  
  
N looked down. Kiss? He’d seen that before. “That’s when lips touch, right?” he asked softly.  
  
“Yes. Does the idea repulse you?” Concordia asked.  
  
If it was Shion then…  
  
“…No.”

  
Concordia grinned. “Very well; while Master Ghetsis is away, I will teach you a little about love, but not everything. You are still too immature for some of it. I have a feeling that even if he disapproves, that will not stop you from pursuing her.”  
  
“It won’t.”  
  
“Odd. What’s that boy mixing into her tea?” Concordia asked.  
  
N put his attention forward.  
  
“Aoi, why does this taste like medicine?” Shion asked.  
  
“It’ll help sooth your itches. Is it not sweet enough?” Aoi asked.  
  
“Oh, you were trying to make it taste good for me?” Shion looked down. “I’m sorry, Aoi. Thank you. I just don’t like medicine.”

  
“It’s okay, Miss Shion. Here, let me see your neck. Oh good, the swellings gone down. Keep drinking and don’t scratch it.”  
  
“But it itches so badly!”  
  
“That mark on the back of her neck doesn’t look good. I wonder if she’s been poisoned somehow.” Concordia said. “Lord N?”

  
“It’s just a bug bite, right? Reshiram, please tell me something just bit her in her sleep last night!” N begged.  
  
 “Calm yourself,” Reshiram said. “She’s been given antidotes regularly since she had that fever. That blue-haired boy is more observant than he looks. So long as she keeps subduing the poison, in a few days she will be back to normal.”  
  
“You’re sure?” N asked.  
  
“Nothing is certain, my hero. Her attacker eluded my watch. I only saw shadows, no shape. I cannot tell you how strong of a poison is flowing through her veins, only that it is so.”  
  
No. She was suffering again.  
  
“But I did what they asked! I returned to Plasma; so why is Shion still suffering?” N demanded.  
  
“Shh, Lord N, calm down. Master Ghetsis will hear you,” Concordia said as she put her arms around him.  
  
“It’s not fair! Shion didn’t do anything wrong!”  
  
“There, there. I never thought I’d see you get so worked up over a human girl,” Concordia remarked. She paused.  “Lord N, look, she’s continuing to climb up.”  
  
“What?”  
  
He clutched the blue ribbon in his hand. Why was she doing this?  
  
“Miss Shion, it’s late; you should rest!” Aoi called.  
  
“I’m fine! It’s just a bit further. I can feel it! I’m not going to give up just yet! Not when I’m this close to him!”  
  
Him. She was doing this for him.  
  
Concordia grinned. “She’s a persistent little thing, isn’t she? Lord N, it seems she cares for you as well.”  
  
N puffed out his cheeks. “Be that as it may, if she pushes herself too hard, I’ll never ever forgive her!”  
  
“Calm down. She made it. She’s resting now, see?” Concordia said. “Lord N, you need to sleep. Tomorrow is the day we take the Pokemon League.”  
  
“Yes, of course. Good night, Concordia.”  
  
“Sleep well, my King.”  
  
He couldn’t sleep. Not until he was sure Aoi gave her another cup of medicinal tea, not until he saw her curl up next to Audino and was sure she wasn’t in any pain while she slept.  
  
He closed his eyes. Concordia was right. Love was a wonderful and painful thing.


	31. N and the Champion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N faces off against Alder.

Conquering the Pokemon League was easier than he expected. Those “Elites” fell far too easily. Even without Reshiram’s help, he was able to make his way to the champion.  
  
“I was expecting you,” Alder said.  
  
N smiled. “Were you now? Then perhaps my actions are backed by fate.”  
  
“Please, can’t we talk? You don’t seem like a bad kid,” Alder said.  
  
N stood firm. “The time for talk is over. I challenge you to a battle of beliefs, your truth against my ideals. Which will win, I wonder?”  
  
“Why do you want to change this world so badly?” Alder asked. “At least answer me that!”  
  
“Because all you people do is cause pain to everything around you! You take and take until there’s nothing left! You discard lives if they do not meet your needs! I’m saving those lives and giving them a chance to grow, away from people like you!”  
  
“When you talk of discarded lives, do you only mean those of pokemon? What of discarded people?”  
  
N clenched his fists. “I don’t care about any of you! I’m just waiting for her! I don’t need anybody else!”  
  
“Hmm? This wouldn’t happen to be that cute sickly girl, the one who is friends with Cheren?” Alder asked. “Shion, wasn’t it?”  
  
“How did you know?” N asked.  
  
Alder laughed. “Cheren doesn’t like you. He made that _very_ clear when we traveled together.”  
  
“He has no right to talk! Where was he when she was suffering? He abandoned her like everyone else close to her!” N demanded. “I saved her life!”  
  
“You did. I doubt anybody thought to reason with the pokemon that cursed her. You have a gift. It is very rare for humans to be able to talk to pokemon. Your ability could revolutionize people’s relationships with them. Besides, I thought you said you didn’t care about people. Why go so far for one girl?”  
  
“Because she’s just like all those pokemon I grew up with. There was no reason for her to suffer like that for so long. She was only trying to protect someone dear to her. Why did she get punished for it with years of pain? Why did any of them? They’re just trying to live."  
  
“I can’t answer that, but think of this, if Shion didn’t have her pokemon beside her, do you think she’d have attempted to climb Victory Road? Do you think she would have made it this far without their support? The relationship between people and pokemon is one of trust and mutual love. Don’t take that away from the people like her, who love their pokemon.”  
  
“You’re losing, champion. Do you truly believe what you’re saying?” N asked.  
  
 “I do.”  
  
“Then why is that faith failing you?”  
  
“Because my words are falling on deaf ears.”  
  
“Mr. Champion, N! Please stop!” a voice called.  
  
N looked back. Standing in the entryway to the champion’s arena was Shion.


	32. The Prince of Ideals and The Princess of Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Battle of the Heroes is about to begin.

Shion ran up to him. “I’m sorry, N! Were you waiting long?”  
  
It had seemed like an eternity.

“Shion, Come here,” he ordered softly.  
  
She cocked her head to the side. “Huh?”  
  
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a hug. As long as they were together, she would be safe. Whatever happened now, it didn’t matter because she was with him.  
  
Shion held tightly to him. “Hehe, yay! I get another hug!”  
  
“Summon the castle,” he commanded.  
  
“Castle?” Shion asked as she looked around.  The earth began to shake as a massive building began to rise up all around them. Shion clapped her hands. “Wow! That was a really neat trick, N!”  
  
“Shion, your face is flushed,” he said.  
  
Shion puffed out her cheeks. “Aoi says I’m sick! It’s not… fair. I was just starting to feel better, too.”  
  
N put his hand to her forehead. She didn’t have a fever. “Sick? Do you have a cold?” he asked.

Would she lie to him?  
  
“I think it’s a bad bug bite actually,” she said. She smiled. “Don’t worry! Audino and Aoi have been taking good care of me! Aoi makes this really sweet tea and everything!”  
  
Aoi was standing at the entrance of the arena. His blue eyes were wide and fixated on the giant castle that looked to be overtaking the Pokemon League.  That boy, though nice, was still a cop. N paused.  If he continued down this path, what would happen?  
  
He grabbed her wrist. “Come. I’ll show you around.”  
  
“I can really see it?” Shion asked. “Wow! Thank you, N! Isn’t this exciting, Audino? A real castle!” She eyed the various rooms with giddy amazement.  
  
“So this is your little pet, N?” a voice asked.   
  
N turned.  
  
Ghetsis.  
  
“Pet?” Shion asked. “What’s the matter, N?”  
  
“Ghetsis, this is Shion. She’s being tested by Zekrom. If she succeeded, she will stand as my equal.”  
  
“And if I say she doesn’t?” Ghetsis said.  
  
“That’s for the dragon to decide,” Shion said. There was strength in her voice.  
  
“Call it,” Ghetsis ordered.  
  
Shion pulled away from N. She put her hands together. “Zekrom, can you hear me? I’m sorry to wake you, but there’s something I need to fight for with all my strength. Please, if you deem me worthy to be your hero, show yourself!”

The black stone around her neck began to spark. Blue electricity swirled around inside the stone.A bolt of lightning crashed down in the center of the arena. When the smoke cleared, a large black dragon stood before them.  
  
Zekrom.  
  
Shion jumped up and down. “Oh wow! You answered me! You really, really answered me! Thank you Zekrom!”  
  
“How….?” Ghetsis asked. “The black dragon stands for courage and truth. How did that _little girl_ manage to summon it?”  
  
Zekrom looked back at Ghetsis.  
  
“Zekrom says he hasn’t seen this kind of honesty and pure strength since his first hero,” N said. He smiled. “I knew you could do it, Shion!”  
  
Reshiram popped out of its pokeball.  
  
“It’s been a long time, my other half,” Reshiram said.  
  
“This is your hero, other me?” Zekrom asked.  
  
“Yes. This young man showed me that humans still remember what it is to be compassionate to others, human or pokemon. His ideal world is something I am intrigued by.”  
  
“Other me, shall we test them?”  
  
“Very well.”  
  
“They want us to battle with them,” N said.  
  
“Zekrom, is that really what you want?” Shion asked.  
  
Zekrom nodded.  
  
“N?” she asked.  
  
“I don’t want to fight you, Shion, but if we must be tested, so be it,” he said. “Reshiram?”  
  
Reshiram spread its wings.  
  
“Zekrom, try to have fun okay? I’m sure you’ll do great!” Shion said.  
  
She had a god at her command and she was telling it to have fun?  
  
“N! I’m not going to hold back! I like you, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let you win! I want to beat you fair and square!”  
  
“Very well. I’ll let you make the first move, princess.”  
  
Her face flushed again. Somehow he doubted she could use the sickness as an excuse this time. “This is so exciting!” she said. She was smiling. It was contagious.  
  
“Roll the cameras!” Ghetsis said. “Let the whole world see the battle of the Heroes!”


	33. Gods and Mortals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle concludes....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNINGS: Character death.

The two of them learned very quickly that Reshiram and Zekrom weren’t kidding when they said they were two halves. They were evenly matched. When Reshiram used Fusion Flare, Zekrom countered with a Fusion Bolt. When Zekrom tried to use Zen Headbutt, Reshiram countered with Extrasensory.  
  
Neither he nor Shion issued a single command.  
  
This battle was a battle of wills, a battle of beliefs. Words were meaningless in this kind of fight.  
  
The battle continued for what seemed like an eternity.  
  
After awhile, everything around them became meaningless. The castle, the people, even the very ground they stood on. Right now, they were in the middle of something much bigger; yet at the same time, so very small.  
  
Their own world. Just him and her and the forces to create something beautiful.  
  
Zekrom’s concentration broke for a split second.  
  
Shion had stooped to her knees. She was clutching her chest.  
  
The beautiful moment had shattered.  
  
“Shion!” N cried.  
  
The battle came to a halt as he and Audino ran to her side. Audino sat down and put Shion’s head in her lap.  
  
Shion seemed strangely distant then.  She kept looking up at the sky.  
  
“Shion?” N asked.  
  
“N, thank you for allowing me to live long enough to see the flowers bloom,” she said.  
  
His heart sank. Even so, he tried to smile. “Why are you talking like that? You’re going to be fine.”

  
She shook her head. “It hurts too much. My body can’t take this burning anymore. This is worse than the curse.”  
  
The poison. He clenched his fists.  
  
“If you were hurting, why didn’t you tell me?” he snapped.  
  
“I didn’t want you to worry. You’ve already done so much for me. I didn’t want…. to burden you again.”  
  
“Who says you were a burden?” N demanded. “I was the burden on you! If you had never met me, none of this would have happened! Would you look at me when I’m talking to you?”  
  
Audino glared at him.  
  
Shion smiled a little. “I would, but I can’t. I haven’t for the last hour or so. Zekrom’s been my eyes.”  
  
Silence.  
  
“N, when you make your ideal world, can I be reborn in it as a bird?”  
  
“Shion…” He didn’t care that his voice was breaking.  
  
“Or do you think… I’d be a better Minccino? I really like… that one, too.”  
  
“Don’t talk anymore! Close your eyes and rest! You’ll feel better when you wake up! I promise…”  
  
“N… can you stay with me until I fall asleep? I don’t like… sleeping alone.”  
  
He put her hand in his. “…Of course.”  
  
She squeezed his. “Audino, thanks for being my friend for all these years. Please make sure everyone else is taken care of. I love you.”  
  
Her breathing was becoming shallow.  
  
“It won’t be long now,” Reshiram said.  
  
“This is unjust!” Zekrom roared. “This was foul play! Who poisoned my hero?”  
  
“Hush,” Reshiram said.  
  
There was the unmistakable sound of a pokeball being opened. Her pokemon released themselves. They all settled around her body and waited in silence. She wasn’t going to die alone.  
  
 Her grip on his hand loosened. “N… thank you for being my prnce.” She closed her eyes.  
  
 “Shion?” N asked.  
  
“She has passed from this world,” Reshiram said.  
  
“But you said she’d be fine! You said she would!” N cried.  
  
“Nothing is certain.”  
  
“I WILL NOT ACCEPT THIS!” Zekrom roared. “I WILL SAVE MY HERO!”  
  
Zekrom pushed past her pokemon and picked up her body. He then took off into the air.  
  
The legendary dragon had just flown off with a corpse.  
  
“He’s gone mad,” Reshiram whispered. “We must stop him!”  



	34. Zekrom's Rampage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> N chases Zekrom in an effort to retrieve Shion's body.

Zekrom had taken Shion’s body and flown into the air.  
  
“Reshiram! Go after Zekrom!” N commanded.  
  
“As you wish, my hero,” Reshiram said. It took off into the air.  
  
“DO NOT INTERFERE!” Zekrom roared.  
  
Fusion Bolt. There was a Fusion Bolt coming straight for them.  
  
“Reshiram, can you dodge that?” N asked.  
  
Reshiram flew to the side.  
  
He saw the little specs of Team Plasma scramble to dodge as the attack came crashing down. He saw something following them on the ground. “What _is_ that? It’s moving so fast!”  
  
“The girl’s Zebstrika,” Reshiram said. “He took the brunt of Zekrom’s Fusion Bolt and used it to trigger his Motor Drive ability.”  
  
N could feel it. Zebstrika’s rage. He couldn’t fly, but he would never stop chasing them, not so long as Zekrom had Shion’s body.  
  
“We have company,” Reshiram said.  
  
N looked behind him. Friends or foes?  
  
Swoobat and Swanna were coming up fast.  
  
Zekrom was an electric type. If another Fusion Bolt was released, both Swoobat and Swanna would be in serious pain.  
  
“Turn back!” N called. “You could get hurt!”  
  
“If we can save her, that’s a risk we’re willing to take!” Swanna said. “Swoobat, you’re obnoxious, can you distract the dragon for me? I’m going to use Ice Beam and then aim for the wings. God or no, it’ll have to drop our girl then.”  
  
Swoobat saluted with one wing. “Got’cha  Princess Swanna! One distraction, coming up!”  
  
Zekrom did not take kindly to having his wings frozen. He clutched Shion’s body close. Another fusion bolt was heading straight for the two flying types.  
  
Swoobat pushed Swanna out of the way, taking the attack full on.  
  
N scrambled to catch the fallen bat as Swanna fired another Ice Beam.  
  
“…Please, don’t let him take her away…. She’s our trainer….. We love her…” Swoobat said.  
  
N held Swoobat close to his chest. “Reshiram, help me.”  
  
“How? My other half wishes to save his hero. What was done to her was unjust.”  
  
“Would it be too much to ask to bring her back to the living world?” N asked. “You’re a god, right?”  
  
Reshiram closed its eyes. “…No it is not. It seems she still has a role she must fulfill in this world.” Reshiram looked at Zekrom. “You hear that?”  
  
Zekrom looked to the side. “…I can’t revive her on my own.”  
  
“Together we can,” Reshiram said gently. The two dragons landed. “Don’t fret, my hero, if we allow our wills to be one once again, we can easily call her back.”  
  
N took her body from Zekrom. Good, she was unharmed. “Don’t worry Shion, I’ve got you.”  
  
“N! If you revive that girl instead of going with our plan, I’ll kill you with my Hydreigon.”  
  
N turned around. “…Father?”


	35. The Power of People and Pokemon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When a belief is strong enough, a miracle can occur...

Ghetsis stood before him. His Hydreigon set to attack.  
  
“I don’t understand. You said I could have Shion in my world,” N said.  
  
“I lied. I’m only human, N,” Ghetsis said. “Besides, that girl was dangerous. I had to keep you safe. She was corrupting your thoughts. You began to rely on your baser instincts; you made rash decisions that deviated from our plan. So I had her disposed of using a Toxic. It’s a slow, but effective death.”  
  
 _He’d_ poisoned her?  
  
N hugged her body close. “She was suffering. I was the only one who could do anything to ease it.”  
  
“All humans suffer,” Ghetsis said.  
  
“I only wanted to save her! I couldn’t care less about the rest of them!”  
  
“To what end?” Ghetsis asked. “To satisfy a lust?”  
  
 N blinked. “Lust?”  
  
Ghetsis ignored him. “You are a young man; I suppose the need is understandable, if unacceptable. It is biology, after all. Though, she’s hardly what one would call pretty.”  
  
“You’re not making any sense!” N cried. “What does biology have to do with anything?  She would be my Queen, but only after I had set the world right again. That was the plan, right?”  
  
“I never said you could actually have a Queen in your world, N. If I had, she would have been chosen for you by me and only me. Such diseased filth was never fit for such a role.”  
  
“Reshiram… Zekrom, even if I die, you’ll still grant my wish, won’t you?”  
  
Ghetsis paused. “Don’t be foolish, N! Why waste something so precious as a miracle on some worthless human girl?”  
  
“She’s my… friend,” he said softly. “My dear friend.”  
  
Ghetsis laughed.“Friend? You can’t have human friends! you’re a freak who lacks a heart! N! We’ve won, don’t you understand? Our ideals were stronger than her truth! You can make your world now!”  
  
“We won because you killed her!” he snapped. “I still want a world where pokemon can be happy, but I’ll make it myself; not with the power of a legend, but with my own hands!”  
  
“You leave me no choice. Hydereigon, use Dragon-!” Ghetsis began.  
  
*DYNAMIC PUNCHED!*  
  
N blinked. A masked figure swooped in from above. Was that Golem-Man? Where did he come from? Did he just punch Ghetsis in the face?  
  
Shion’s  Zebstrika was on top of Ghetsis before he could finish the command. He was pinned by his hooves. Emboar, Krookodile, and Audino each took on one head of Ghetsis’s dragon.  
  
Yet, it was not a command. They were doing it of their own will. So this was the power of people and pokemon. This was her truth.  
 N laughed.“You have very loyal friends, Shion.”  
  
“There you guys are!” a voice said.  
  
 N looked up to see Aoi and a Dragonite. Shion’s Swanna was with him.  
  
Aoi hopped off of Dragonite’s back. “N, do you need a revive for Swoobat?”  
  
“Yes. “  
  
When Swoobat came to, he kissed N on the nose.  
  
 “N, you should do what your heart tells you. Miss Shion would want you to follow your own feelings, not your father’s.” Aoi said.  
  
Ghetsis pushed himself out from under Zebstrika. “Who are you, brat?”  
  
Aoi smiled. “Nobody special. I’m just the cop who will make you pay for your crimes against people and pokemon. You wanted to be the only one in the region with pokemon, isn’t that right?”  
  
Ghetsis laughed. “So you figured me out, did you? Yes. I was going to use N for that goal, but then he met that girl and became convinced she was on the same level as a pokemon. It made him question everything I’d taught him. She ruined my perfect puppet King.”  
  
Puppet King?  
  
“N, do what you have to. I’ll take care of Ghetsis!” Aoi said.  
  
“My hero, would you be the vessel for our resurrection?” Reshiram asked.  
  
“How do I do that?” N asked.  
  
“We give you the power to revive her and then you kiss her to give it to her,” Zekrom said. “It’s a lot cleaner than combining Fusion Flare and Fusion Bolt.”  
  
He flushed. He had wanted to do that anyway, right? He placed Shion’s down on the ground.  
  
Black light, white light, truth, ideals, opposites, but when they came together for a common cause…  
  
A miracle could occur.  
  
When their lips touched, the warmth was returning to her body.  
  
 “Shion? Can you hear me?” he asked.  
  
“N…?”She opened her eyes and looked around.  
  
Relief. He could feel it coursing through all of her pokemon as they gathered around her.  He felt it too. He wiped his eyes. “Thank goodness!”  
  
“How did everyone get outside of their pokeballs?” she asked. “Audino! where are you?”  
  
Audino clung to Shion and cried.  
  
“What’s the matter, Audino?” she asked.  
  
“Shion, what’s the last thing you remember?” N asked.  
  
She thought for a moment. “Um…oh! You showing me around the castle and then I summoned Zekrom! How did we get all the way down here?” She paused for a moment before she flailed her arms around. “Oh gosh! Did I fall all the way down when I was sleeping?”  
  
N grinned. “Something like that, but don’t worry, I caught you.”  
  
Zebstrika kicked him in the back, shoving him into her.  
  
Their lips met again.  
  
He pulled away quickly, but not before noticing the black and white wing marks on her chest.  
  
Shion smiled. “I didn’t know people could use Heart Stamp! Let me try!”  
  
She kissed him on the nose, like her Swoobat always did. “Swoobat, did I do that right?” she asked.  
  
Swoobat nodded.  
  
Shion threw her arms in the air. “Yay! I learned Heart Stamp! Oh my gosh! Is that Golem-Man? Is Aoi battling Ghetsis?” She gripped his jacket tightly. “N, _what happened while I napped?_ ”  
  
“Calm down, princess.”  
  
She paused. “Princess? Come to think of it, you called me that before… does that mean I passed your challenge?”  
  
“Would it make you happy if I said yes?” he asked.  
  
“Yes! Because then the prince and princess can be together and get a happy ending!”  
  
A happy ending, huh? Yes, he wanted that too.


	36. Proclamation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens now? (Hint, N doesn't leave on his jet plane pokemon.)

What was he going to do now?  
  
Ghetsis, the dream of a better world, his propose in life, all of that had been a lie.

  
When Ghetsis got arrested, he didn’t want to look at him. He was no longer the calm and composed Leader of Plasma. He was simply a loud man with extreme ideals.  
  
“Well, that was certainly an intense fight,” Aoi said with a smile. “Thank you, Dragonite. You were wonderful, as always.”  
  
“Wow~ I’ve never seen a real live Dragonite before!” Shion said.  
  
“He’s been with me for a long time,” Aoi said.  
  
“Shi~!”  
  
Bianca tackled Shion.  
  
“Bi?” Shion asked.  
  
“We all saw what happened and I panicked! So I gathered all the gym leaders and…. Oh Shi, we were so scared!” Bianca sobbed.  
  
“Where’s Cheren?” Shion asked.  
  
“You’re slow!” Bianca called behind her.  
  
“Some of us… don’t like… stairs,” Cheren panted.  
  
Cheren’s eyes did not leave N. “What are you going to do now?” he asked.  
  
N paused. “…I really don’t know.”  
  
“Lord N and Lady Shion are going to freshen up,” Concordia said.  
  
“Lord N still has to make an address to the people of Unova,” Athena said. “Come this way, my Lady!”  
  
“Okay!” Shion said.  
  
 “Darn it, Shion! Stop going with these people!” Cheren called. Cheren looked at Aoi. “Can’t you arrest him?”  
  
 Aoi smiled. “I _could_ , but honestly, I kind of like him. I think it’d break Miss Shion’s heart if he went to jail. Papa and I are going to work out a compromise.”  
  
“I just worry about her, you know?” Cheren said. “I always have.”  
  
“Then just say you’ll kick his butt if he hurts her,” Aoi said, still smiling. “And if he does hurt her, own up to that vow. It’s worked so far for one of my friends. He’s beaten every single person that calls him unworthy of her. ”  
  
“We can double-team him, Cheren!” Bianca chimed in.  
  
“Alright, Bianca, but you have to be ready in a moment’s notice!”  
  
“A moment’s notice for what?” Shion asked.  
  
“How did you change so fast?” Cheren demanded.  
  
“Concordia and Athena said they always wanted to make up a girl. Apparently, they practiced so much it made them super fast at it!” Shion twirled around in the ball gown. “Well, do I look like a princess?”  
  
“You look lovely, Miss Shion. White is a nice color for you. That’s a cute hairdo, too” Aoi said.  
  
“That dress is so shimmery!” Bianca said. “You look like a snow flake!”  
  
Cheren paused. It was quite a change. The fancy dress, the lightly curled hair, the ponytail. They even gave her a tiara. She looked strangely mature.  “Hey, Shion, where’d you get the Minccino?” he asked.  
  
“She sat with me while I was being made up! She was so cute and fluffy that I couldn’t help but pet her! Mii~!”  
  
“Mii~!” said the Minccino.  
  
N grinned. That shy little pokemon had taken to her so quickly. “Shion, why don’t you address the people of Unova?”  
  
“Mii?” exclaimed both girl and pokemon in shock.  
  
“Yes, you. I have no right to; I lost our battle.”  
  
“Aw, did you? I wasn’t actually planning on winning! Promise! Zekrom, you didn’t cheat or anything while I was napping, right? You were a good boy, right?” Shion asked almost pleadingly.  
  
Zekrom nudged her hand with his head.  
  
“Yay! I’m glad you did your best! Good boy! Only, what am I supposed to do with you? I never actually captured you.”  
  
 Zekrom closed its eyes and went back into the black stone.  
  
“Oh! So if I need you, you’ll come out of there? Okay! Minccino can I hold you for just a bit longer?”  
  
“Mii!”  
  
Shion took a deep breath before she stepped in front of the camera. “Um, hello, all of Unova… I guess you’re expecting some kind of proclamation or something? Um, you don’t have to release your pokemon if you don’t want to… but please, be kind to them! Pokemon are living things; they have feelings that we need to respect! In that sense, I don’t think Plasma was wrong. So please! Be nice to your pokemon, okay?”  
  
N laughed. “You sounded terrified.”  
  
She glanced to the side. “Well, I don’t like being on camera.”  
  
“Shion, what are you going to do now?”  
  
“I want to go home. I want to see Mommy and Daddy. I wonder if I can find Kohaku? I hope he doesn’t hate me or anything!”  
  
“Kohaku doesn’t hate you, Shion. He’s just a coward,” Cheren said.  
  
“Huh?” she said.  
  
“What Cheren _means_ is Kohaku couldn’t stand the thought of losing his dear sister!” Bianca cut in.  
  
Golem-Man flew away.  
  
“Thank you, Golem-Man!” Shion called with a wave. “N, what will you do now?”  
  
N looked to the side. “I don’t…”  
  
“Lord N is going to follow his princess, of course!” Athena said.  
  
“Really?” Shion asked with glee.  
  
“My Lord, do not let this opportunity go to waste,” Concordia said. “Or are you telling me that all the practice you did was meaningless to you?”  
  
“Practice? What practice?” Shion asked.  
  
“N-nothing!” N stammered.  
  
“It took him awhile to learn Heart Stamp,” Concordia continued. “A long, long while.”  
  
“Is it because he doesn’t have a Swoobat?” Shion asked.  
  
“Very good, Lady Shion!” Athena said.  
  
Those two were having way too much fun teasing him.  
  
“N, do you want to borrow mine to practice with? I’m sure he’d be happy to help!” Shion asked.  
  
“No thanks. Your Swoobat stole my first kiss,” N muttered.  
  
“Kiss?” Shion asked. She blushed. “You mean you _weren’t_ practicing Heart Stamp?”  
  
“It was the only way I could revive you!” he sputtered. “What are you doing with that pokeball?”  
  
“Swoobat, I want N’s kiss back,” she said.  
  
Swoobat kissed her on the lips.  
  
“Here, N, you can have this back if you want.”  
  
“Y-you keep it, Shion.”  
  
“That’s not fair!” Shion said. She kissed him anyway. “There! Now we’re even!”  
  
“A-anyway, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to continue traveling with you, Shion.”  
  
“OBJECTION!” Cheren shouted.  
  
Shion ignored that. “Okay! I wonder how Mommy will react when I bring home a prince?”  
  
She took his hand. Wherever this road took them, they’d go down it together.  
  
Hand in hand.


	37. The Return Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion goes home for the first time in nearly ten years.

“You’re going back to Kanto, Aoi?” Shion said.  
  
“Yeah.  I haven’t been home for a long time and Ai’s going to be returning soon. I really want to see her. Miss Shion, will you write to me?”  
  
“Like a pen pal? Sure!”  
  
“Oh and N, you’re not going to go to jail,” Aoi said. “On one condition, you have to take good care of Miss Shion. Apparently her little broadcast made her quite the overnight celebrity and not just here; it made the news in the other regions, too.”  
  
“Eh~?” Shion hid behind N. “No way! There’s nothing special about me, really!”  
  
Aoi smiled. “Some would debate that, Miss Shion. You take care now.”  
  
“Aoi, thank you for everything!” Shion called.  
  
“Shi~! Let’s all go home together!” Bianca said. “N, you too!”  
  
“How are we going to get home?” Cheren asked.  
  
“Um, it’s the end game, so we’ll teleport back home?” Bianca said.  
  
“Don’t be ridiculous, Bianca! We’ll take the subway like normal people!” Cheren said.  
*  
Nuvema town was a very quiet place.  
  
Shion placed her hand on the doorknob of a small house. Her whole body shook.  “I-I can’t do this!”  
  
“She’d want to see you, Shion. You’re all better now, right?” Bianca said.  
  
“Yes, but it’s been so long… since I’ve been in this house. What if it’s nothing is like I remember it?” Shion asked. “What if…”  
  
“Do you want to turn back?” Cheren asked.  
  
Shion bit her lip. “No! I… I want to see my Mommy.”  
  
“Then see her,” he said.  
  
“Where are you two going?” Shion asked.  
  
“To our own houses. We’ll meet up with you later, Shion,” Cheren said.  
  
“And N, too!” Bianca said.  
  
Cheren sighed.  
  
“So are you actually going to open the door?” N asked.  
  
Shion stood frozen. Audino was the one to open the door.  
  
A shadow of a woman looked back at the door as if she were expecting someone.  
  
“Kohaku?” the voice asked.  
  
“Mommy… I’m home!” Shion said softly.  
  
There was the sound of a dish hitting the floor. The woman ran into the hall and cradled her daughter in her arms. “It is really you, isn’t it, Shion? You’re not a ghost?” her mother asked.  
  
Shion smiled. “I’m the only ghost in the world who can’t scare anything! Boo~”  
  
“How did you? I mean they said….” Her mother sobbed.  
  
“Mommy, I met a prince; he can talk to pokemon.”  
  
“Prince?” her mother asked.  
  
Shion nodded. “He’s standing in our doorway.”  
  
 The woman looked up. “You! You were at the tree when I left the roses.”  
  
Shion looked surprised. “Mommy’s met N?”  
  
Her mother smiled at him. “It would seem so. Come inside.”  
  
N looked around. It was a simple house, but it had a warm atmosphere.  
  
Shion ran up to her room. “Ah, my bed and all of my pokedollys are still here!”  
  
“We boxed up some of your older things, but we made sure to keep your room like you remembered it,” her mother said. “Shion, do you remember what tomorrow is?” her mother asked.  
  
 Shion paused. “It’s… a lovely spring day?”  
  
 Her mother nodded. “Indeed, but what day is it?”  
  
“Ah! We turn fifteen!”  
  
“I’m making the cake right now.”  
  
“Is my name still on it?”  
  
“Of course it is, sweetheart!”  
  
“Yay!”  
  
“Mom, are you here?” another voice asked.  
  
“I’m upstairs, Kohaku!” their mother called.  
  
So he’d finally get to meet the illusive Kohaku.  
  
The boy stood in the doorway gaping.  
  
“….Sis?” he asked.  
  
Shion tackled Kohaku. “Kohaku! Oh no! It’s our birthday and I didn’t get you a present!”  
  
He hugged her. “You _are_ my present, Sis.”  
  
“Kohaku, what are you doing?” a voce asked.  
  
The figure in the doorway had long black hair and a black dress. Kohaku was still pinned to the floor by Shion. “Look up my skirt and I’ll kill you, Kohaku,” the black-haired girl said.  
  
“Hey, hey, Kohaku, who’s this pretty girl?” Shion asked.  
  
“That’s Hakumei. We’ve been… traveling together,” Kohaku said. “She’s not my girlfriend or anything!”  
  
“That’s right,” Hakumei said. “The Sinnoh champion would never date someone so pathetic.”  
  
“Oh~ I remember watching that championship match when I was in the hospital! It was really, really exciting!” Shion said.  
  
N paused. The Sinnoh champion was a girl?  
  
“What’s the story with that guy?” Kohaku asked.  
  
N pointed to himself. “Me?”  
  
“He’s my prince!” Shion said with a smile.  
  
“Prince?” Kohaku asked as he slid out from under her.  
  
Shion put her forehead against Kohaku’s. “Be nice to him, okay? If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be here. He’s a good boy.”  
  
“…You love him.”  
  
“Wouldn’t you love the person who thought you were special enough to save twice?”  
  
“I guess I would.”  
  
“Hey, Kohaku, can I play with Mei?”  
  
“Mei?” Kohaku asked.  
  
“Kohaku and Hakumei is too many hakus, so she’s Mei! You don’t mind, do you, Mei?” Shion asked.  
  
Hakumei looked back at them. “Not really. Kohaku, I’m borrowing the cute, bouncy thing,” Hakumei said.  
  
“Yay!” Shion said. “Mei wants to play with me, too!”  
  
Kohaku looked at N. “Is what she said true? Is it because of you that she’s still alive?”  
  
“Yes. I talked to the Cofagrigus. I convinced him to dispel the curse on her,” N said.  
  
Kohaku paused. “Why?”  
  
“She was my first real human friend.”  
  
“I guess that’s a good enough reason. I suppose I can even forgive you for kissing her.”  
  
“How did you know about that?” N demanded.  
  
“All of Unova saw it,” Kohaku said. “Your battle was all over the news. When I watched it, I couldn’t believe my sister was still alive… and then just like that, right before my eyes, she died. It broke my heart.  You should have seen it, it was like everything stopped. People were really rooting for her, but then you made such a selfless wish. I couldn’t hate you after that.  People have started to call her the Pokemon Princess.” Kohaku grinned. “It’s kind of silly, but I think it fits her. Come on, let’s go help Mom.”  
  
”Me too?” N asked.  
  
“Yeah, you too.”


	38. The Luckiest Girl in the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shion and Kohaku celebrate their birthday.

He did his best to be as silent as he possibly could. He was helping Mother and Hakumei set up the birthday decorations while Shion and Kohaku slept in the next room.  
  
Today was a very special day. He wanted to help make it memorable.  
  
“Thanks for all your help, N. It sure is nice to have someone tall around,” Mother said.  
  
“I didn’t know you could celebrate birthdays like this,” N remarked.  
  
“Did your parents not throw parties for you on your birthday?” Mother asked.  
  
“…Not really.”  
  
“Well, we can’t have that! If you tell me when your birthday is, we’ll throw a party for you, too!”  
  
“You don’t have to do that,” N muttered.  
  
“I want to. You gave me back my daughter, and you’ve made her happy. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for that.”  
  
The front door unlocked.  
  
“Did I miss anything?” a man asked.  
  
Where had he seen this man before?  
  
Mother shook her head. “No, dear. You made it just in time.”  
  
“Tell me, is Shion really?”  
  
Mother nodded. “Yes.”  
  
“Thank goodness.”  
  
Oh right, this man was Shion’s father.  
*  
  
“G’morning,” Shion said with a yawn. She looked around.  “What _is_ all this?”  
  
“It’s for your birthday, sweetie,” the man said.  
  
Shion paused. “Daddy!” She ran up and hugged him.  
  
“Holy crap, Mom! You went all out this year!” Kohaku exclaimed. “ _Dad?_   When did you get back?”  
  
“As soon as I heard what happened, I dropped everything and came home. It’s good to see you be so energetic, Shion.”  
  
“How has work been going, Daddy?” Shion asked.  
  
“Wonderful thanks to a certain Pokemon Princess.”  
  
“Eh? There’s a Pokemon Princess?” Shion asked.  
  
“He means you, Sis,” Kohaku remarked.  
  
“What~?”  
  
“Your charming image and heartfelt speech really got people thinking. That darling Mincinno you held helped, too. When did you catch it?”  
  
“Mincinno isn’t mine. She belongs to N. I was just holding her because petting her calms me down.”  
  
 Father looked at him. “You’re N?”  
  
“Yes. Excuse me sir, what do you do?” N asked.  
  
“I’m a pokemon rights lawyer. Some people still don’t see pokemon as anything more than pets, but I believe they are as capable as humans beyond just a need to survive. Some of the things people do, it’s just sickening. Children, you’ve been treating your pokemon kindly, yes?”  
  
“Yes!” they replied.  
  
Mother smiled. “The whole family is together again! I’m so happy!”  
  
“Hello~! Has the party started yet?” a voice called from the doorway.  
  
“Bianca, it’s 10. A.M.”  
  
“Hi Bi! Hi Cheren!” Shion called. “Come on in!”  
  
“Sis, you’ve caught some pokemon other than Audino, right? Can I see them?” Kohaku asked.  
  
“Of course! Come on out, everyone!”  
  
Swoobat immediately kissed Kohaku on the lips.  
  
“My first kiss was stolen by a Swoobat!” Kohaku exclaimed.  
  
“He does that,” N said.  
  
“Swoobat, please stop stealing people’s Heart Stamps, it’s not nice!” Shion said.  
  
“Hakumei! Get it back for me!” Kohaku begged.  
  
Hakumei glared at him. “A first kiss is only as valuable as you make it. I refuse to chase something so intangible. However…”  
She kissed Kohaku on the forehead. “For now I will loan you mine.”  
  
“Yay! Mei learned Heart Stamp!” Shion said.  
  
“It would seem so,” Hakumei said with a grin.  
  
“Now you show me yours, Kohaku.”  
  
“Okay. Everyone be nice to my sister, alright”  
  
“Hmm, your Golurk looks strangely familiar, Kohaku,” Shion remarked.  
  
“I can never get this guy to stay in his Pokeball! Half the time when I call him out to battle, he’s not in there!”  
  
 “Oh, look! He’s gone,” Shion remarked.  
  
“See?” Kohaku demanded.  
  
“That’s because…” Hakumei began.  
  
“Oh look! Look! It’s Golem-Man! He’s flying right over our house! Fight hard, Golem-Man! I’ll be rooting for you~!” Shion called.  
  
Golem-Man saluted them.  
  
“I wish my Golurk was that cool…” Kohaku muttered.  
  
“Honestly!” Hakumei exclaimed.  
  
“Eee~ You have an Emolga, Kohaku?” Shion exclaimed. “Emolga, Emolga, can we play tag?”  
  
“Everyone! It’s time for cake!” Mother called.  
  
“Happy birthday, Shion and Kohaku!” everyone cheered.  
  
So this was what birthdays were like. How nice.  
  
After everyone left Shion curled up on the couch.  
  
“Poor dear, I think the party wore her out,” Mother said.  
  
N sat beside her on the couch. “Shion, you asleep?”  
  
“Not yet. Can I use you as a pillow or would that make you uncomfortable?”  
  
 N looked down.“…It’s fine.”  
  
 Shion curled next to him. “Heh, you’re comfy.”  
  
“Was today fun?”  
  
“Today was so much fun. It’s  been like a dream. The doctors always said I’d have to be the luckiest girl in the world to reach fifteen, so this is kind of unreal.”  
  
 “Well, you are the luckiest girl in the world.”  
  
Shion smiled. “Hey N, do you think I’ll be able to have lots of birthdays like this one?” she asked.  
  
He rubbed her forehead. “Yeah. You’ll have lots more birthdays.”  
  
“And you’ll celebrate them with me, right?”  
  
“As long as you want me to.”  
  
“For as long as I’m alive. That’d make me really happy. Promise?”  
  
“Promise.”


	39. Love and Hate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ends are beginning to be tied and a promise is made.

They were on their way to the Castelia City Hospital.  
  
“You can do this, Shion! It’s just one last checkup!” Father said.  
  
Shion looked nervous as she stepped through the automatic door.  When she reentered the hospital, some of the nurses began to cry. Not out of sadness, but joy.  
  
Everyone nervously waited outside as she was examined. When she exited, she smiled. “The doctor says I’m healthy!”  
  
Everyone cheered.  
  
“Shion what do you want to do with Audino?” the doctor asked.  
  
“Um,” she began.  
  
“Technically, she’s employed by this hospital. You never actually owned her,” the nurse said.  
  
“But Audino is my…” Shion cut in. “Though, I guess you probably need her here, huh?”  
  
“If I have to choose between my girl and my job, I quit my job!”  
  
“Excuse me, young man?” the doctor said.  
  
“That’s what Audino just said,” N said quickly.  
  
“Really Audino?” Shion asked.  
  
Audino nodded.  
  
“But! But!” Shion protested.  
  
N grinned. “Audino loves you more than anyone, Shion. It was no contest.”  
  
Shion hugged Audino. “I love you, too! I love you so, so much! I want us to be friends forever! But I thought asking you to stay with me was selfish!”  
  
The doctor looked at Audino. “Is this really what you want?”  
  
Audino nodded.  
  
“Very well, Audino, you are dismissed for this hospital. Take care of her, alright?”  
  
It was a very joyful trip back home.  
*  
“N, will you come with me to do something?” Shion asked.  
  
“Sure, what do you need?”  
  
“I want to visit Cofagrigus.”  
  
Audino stopped in her tracks.  
  
“Shion, are you sure you want to do this?” N asked.  
  
“Yes, but we can’t tell my family. They’d never let me go.” Shion paused. “Audino’s mad at me, isn’t she?”  
  
“That’s putting it lightly.” He took her hand. “Alright, if you really want to go, I’ll accompany you.”  
  
Shion hugged him. “You’re the best, N!”  
*  
The three of them walked to the cursed tree. It was no longer black.  
  
“Yay! Mr. Tree got better, too!” Shion said. “Oh hey, a hole! How’d this get here?”  
  
“My pokemon dug it. Be careful on your way down, Shion,” N said. “Here, I’ll go first and help you.”

  
She kept her hand on his arm the whole way down the dark passage.  
  
“…Who enters my realm?” Cofagrigus asked.  
  
“He wants to know who we are,” N whispered in her ear.  
  
“Hello! Mr. Cofagrigus; are you taking guests?” Shion called.  
  
“…Guests? Oh, hello again, boy. …. You? Why have you come again?”  
  
“Shion, tell him why you’re here,” N said.  
  
“Mr. Cofagrigus, I just wanted to say I don’t hate you anymore. I’m sorry I threw that rock at your head. Did it hurt?”  
  
Cofagrigus looked down.  “…Boy, can you tell her what I say? All of it.”  
  
“Yes,” N said.  
  
“Child, I did not mean to curse you…I acted rashly and for that I am truly sorry. After ten years of solitude, I have realized how I have wronged you, robbed you of the most important thing this world offers… Yet, you are standing here before me with a smile on your face, saying you no longer hate the being that made your life hell….”  
  
“You’ve been alone all this time?” Shion asked.  
  
“…Yes I was banished here shortly after you were hospitalized.”  
  
Shion got down on the ground and hugged Cofagrigus around the base.  
  
Slowly, Cofagrigus returned the embrace, one arm at a time, they wrapped around her.

“…Can I come with you on your journey?”  
  
When N repeated the words, Shion looked surprised, but in the end, she smiled. “Sure! Don’t struggle, okay? This is my very last pokeball.”  
  
N stared at the pokeball in shock. Cofagrigus was serious.  
  
“Got’cha,” Shion said. “Now you can play with my other friends. You don’t have to be lonely anymore.”  
  
“Shion…”  
  
She turned around.“It was strange, when I hugged him, his body felt warm and his arms were gentle. That wasn’t the same pokemon from ten years ago. I guess pokemon can change like people, huh?”  
  
N pulled her out of the hole. “It was very brave of you to face such an old wound like that.”  
  
“I want to move forward. I don’t want to always be tied to my past. I have a future I want to try to get to!”  
  
“What is that future?”  
  
“I want to be a professional dancer! You’ll cheer for me, right, N?”  
  
“Of course I will.”  
  
“What kind of future do you want to get to, N?”  
  
“In the future, I want to start a shelter for abandoned pokemon and children.”  
  
“Yay! You can be a prince that creates happiness from sadness!” she grabbed his hands. “N, let’s work towards our dreams. If we can make those come true, I’m sure my other dream will, too!”  
  
“Other dream?” he asked.  
  
Shion smiled. “Since I’m now an adult, I want to try to get married someday!”  
  
Marriage?  
  
“What is that?” he asked.  
  
Shion paused. “Um, let me think. It’s like picking a partner for life.”  
  
N hugged her round the middle. “You’re my choice! Please pick me!”  
  
Shion laughed. “Really? Wow, that was fast.  Only… the doctor said I can’t have any babies. The curse took away my ability to be a mommy from the inside, but that doesn’t really matter, right? Because there are lots of sad kids and pokemon I can be a mommy to if you achieve your dream. And I’ll have you no matter what!”  
  
“I want to see your dream come true, too. You deserve that, Shion.”  
  
“I’ve had more miracles happen to me in this past year than most people get in their whole life.” She put her hand over the winged mark on her chest. “Even so, I’m very, very happy!”  
  
She pushed him up against the tree and kissed him. “Thank you for being born in my lonely little world.”  
  
He returned the kiss. “The feeling is mutual.”


	40. All Together Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When one door closes, another one opens.

They spent the summer months at home.  N and Shion learned all sorts of useful skills from Mother. They each took turns with the chores. He found out that he was a naturally better cook than Shion, but she was much better at money management. They both made lots of mistakes at first. So he learned with Shion, little by little.  
  
When Mother praised him for his progress, it made him happy.  
  
Days passed, but they felt like years. His soul was finally catching up to his body’s age.  
  
It was fall when Shion said she wanted to travel again.  
  
“I only had a limited time to accomplish my goal,” she said. “In a lot of ways, I feel like I took it too fast. I want to start fresh and see the sights in all the towns.”  
  
Kohaku was ecstatic about the idea. He still had to finish his journey, anyway. “It’ll be just like the old times, Sis! Only Hakumei will be with us!”  
  
“Wha…?” said Hakumei.  
  
“And N, too!” Shion said as she grabbed N’s arm.  
  
“N’s coming?“ Kohaku asked.  
  
“Of course I’m coming with Shion,” N said. “Our destinies are tied.”  
  
“Oh _really_?” Kohaku said.  
  
“Yes really!” Shion said.  
  
“Kohaku, I don’t mind. I like them,” Hakumei said. “Besides, if you’re worried about having the two of them together, N should know if he does anything to hurt Shion, I’ll kill him.”  
  
“I am a man of standards. There should be no need to murder me,” N scoffed.  
  
“Mei, you won’t really kill N, will you?” Shion asked.  
  
“Hakumei, you made her cry,” Kohaku said.  
  
Hakumei sighed. “I suppose I won’t. I’ll just maim him a little.”  
  
“Don’t do that either!” Shion exclaimed as she clung harder.  
  
“Shion, you don’t have to cling so tightly to my arm…” N began.  
  
“I’m a shield!” she exclaimed.  
  
 “Hey~ Are you guys ready to go?” Bianca called.  
  
“Coming Bi~! Shion called back. She was dragging N behind her.  
  
“Hey guys, let’s do what we originally planned! Let’s all take our first steps on this new journey together!” Bianca said.  
  
“With six of us, not counting Audino?” Cheren said.  
  
“I get to hold N’s hand! Shion exclaimed. “And Audino get’s his other hand!”  
  
N grinned.  
  
“Well, I call Sis’s other hand!” Kohaku said.  
  
“I suppose I’m going to hold _your_ hand because you already claimed Shion’s, Kohaku?” Hakumei asked.  
  
“Mei, I’ll hold your hand too and Cheren can hold mine!” Bianca said.  
  
“Really now, one of us is going to fall over if we do this,” Cheren said.  
  
Everyone connected their hands together.  
  
“Ready everyone? Shi, why don’t you lead us?” Bianca said.  
  
“Okay! Ready? One, two, three! Everybody step forward!” Shion commanded.  
  
“ACCK!”  
  
“I _told_ you someone would trip!” Cheren said.  
  
Shion got out from under the dog pile of people. She took Audino’s hand and began running down the hill.  
  
“What on earth is she doing?” Hakumei asked.  
  
N paused. “She’s flying. I’d better try to catch her in case she crashes.”  
  
 “Ah, wait up, Sis!” Kohaku called.  
  
“I hate running,” Hakumei said.  
  
Cheren sighed. “Honestly, it’s like no time has passed at all.”  
  
“That’s why it’s a miracle, right?” Bianca said.


End file.
